New regime in Adair stronghold

Deposed loyalist terror boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair suffered a final humiliation tonight when a new paramilitary regime was officially installed in his west Belfast stronghold.

With his wife Gina and tiny band of supporters exiled in Scotland, Ulster Defence Association men who defected from his power base in the Lower Shankill estate voted in his successor.

In a statement issued tonight, the organisation also vowed to restore order in Protestant parts of the city following a violent feud which claimed four lives.

It said: “The officers and members of the Ulster Defence Association, West Belfast Brigade, met today and unanimously endorsed the new leadership.”