Loyalists may have killed man

A MAN shot dead outside his home near Belfast may have been ambushed by former paramilitary associates, it emerged yesterday.

Builder Jim Johnston had links with the loyalist Red Hand Commando.

Detectives investigating the attack at the village of Crawfordsburn, Co Down, believe Johnston had been involved in the illegal drugs’ trade and was a victim of a dispute.It is understood he feared for his safety.

Two men involved in the shooting attacked him outside his home at Ballyrobert Road on Thursday night. They then ran off towards the main Belfast to Bangor road.

A friend of the dead man said yesterday: “The Special Branch had warned him he was under death threat. They had been to his home several times, warning him to step up his security because he was a target.

“He phoned me yesterday morning to tell me there was a spotter plane above his home. He felt he was under some sort of surveillance. Jim may have been involved in drugs a long, long time ago. But definitely not recently. He was a good lad,” he said.