Johnny Adair, nicknamed "Mad Dog", was once one of Northern Ireland's most feared loyalist figures as the leader of the Ulster Defence Association's C company. He now lives in Troon, Ayrshire, after a loyalist feud forced him to flee Belfast.
Rise to power in the UDA
The youngest of seven children, Adair climbed to the top of the UDA in the early 1990s, reaching the rank of Brigadier. In 1993, he narrowly escaped death in an IRA assassination attempt that left nine people dead in a chippy in Belfast.
Two years later, in September 1995, Adair was jailed for 16 years at the Maze Prison for directing terrorism. It was while on home leave in 1999 that he was hit by a bullet to the head while attending a UB40 concert with his wife, Gina, in Belfast.
Expulsion and feuds
Released under the Good Friday Agreement later that year, Adair became embroiled in a violent feud with former comrades and loyalist factions. This resulted in Adair being expelled from the UDA in September 2002.
After being jailed again in 2003, his loyalist network was blamed for the murders of UDA divisional leader John Gregg and member Robert Carson, who were gunned down returning from a Rangers match in Glasgow. Fearing revenge, Adair's family fled to Scotland and later to Bolton.
Life in Scotland
When Adair walked free again in 2005, he joined them down south but relocated to Troon just 10 months later. In his autobiography Mad Dog, he claimed: "Now I'm settled in Scotland, I don't feel I have to run and hide from anyone. I live here openly and have no fears of attempts on my life."
In 2013, police foiled a plot to assassinate Adair and his former right-hand man, Sam McCrory. Three men were later jailed for the conspiracy. His son, Jonathan Adair jnr, died aged 32 at a property in Troon in September 2016, following an accidental drugs overdose.
