Adair release hearing resumes

A hearing into whether the notorious loyalist Johnny Adair should be allowed out of jail continues at the Maghaberry prison in Co Antrim today.

Senior RUC officers argue that he has broken the terms of his early release by involvement in paramilitary activity and should remain behind bars.

Adairs defence lawyers claim however that RUC intelligence reports are not enough to justify his continuing imprisonment.

The Sentence Review Commission, in their preliminary hearing, agreed and asked for corroborative evidence.

Yesterday, the RUC Chief Constable and two Special Branch superintendents gave their view that Adair breached the conditions of their early release, which state that he must not support any paramilitary group or instigate any illegal act.

However, their information linked Adair to drug dealing; guns; the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorist activity; as well as fomenting sectarian tensions along the peace line in north and west Belfast.