Decision today on future of Johnny Adair

The North's Sentence Review Commission is today expected to announce its decision on the future of UDA commander Johnny Adair…

The North's Sentence Review Commission is today expected to announce its decision on the future of UDA commander Johnny Adair.

The announcement had been expected yesterday but the commission said it was still considering the evidence from a two-day hearing at Maghaberry jail, Co Antrim, last week.

Adair, the UDA's Shankill commander, was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment for directing terrorism in 1996. He was granted early release in September 1999 under the Belfast Agreement.

However, he was sent back to prison last August after the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, revoked his early-release licence. Senior security figures had told Mr Mandelson that Adair was instrumental in starting the loyalist feud and in raising sectarian tensions by attacking nationalist homes in north Belfast.

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The UDA leader appeared at several loyalist shows of strength last summer. In a preliminary ruling last month, the commission recommended Adair's release from Maghaberry jail.

However, Mr Mandelson opposed it and his lawyers argued strongly at the hearing last week that Adair should remain behind bars. Several senior RUC officers, including the Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, told the hearing that Adair continued to pose a serious risk to the security situation.

SDLP Assembly member Dr Alasdair McDonnell last night appealed to the Sentence Review Commission to ensure Adair remained in jail. "If the Sentence Review Commission makes the mistake of letting this gangster out of prison, they will have released a man who is a real threat to the whole of this society," he said.

"Adair has been stoking up tensions for some time and the review panel must ensure this sort of behaviour does not go unpunished," he added.