Johnny Adair refused free legal aid

A court in the North has ruled that former UDA commander Johnny Adair is not entitled to free legal aid to help challenge his ongoing imprisonment.

The court decided that Adair, who was deposed as commander of the UDA in west Belfast last year, had enough money to pay for his own lawyers.

The former paramilitary was seeking free legal aid for his challenge against the British government's decision to revoke the early release license he received under the Good Friday Agreement.

The court heard that Adair’s gang, including his wife Gina, were forcibly ejected from Belfast by their former UDA colleagues in February. The gang fled to Scotland, where £70,000 (€99,000) in cash was subsequently found in a shoebox in Mrs Adair’s luggage.