The freed loyalist paramilitary Johnny Adair has joined his family in exile in Britain after his early release from prison yesterday. Authorities at Maghaberry prison, Co Antrim, freed him to be flown by military helicopter to England for his own safety three days before he was officially due to be released.
The move is thought to have been an attempt to outwit paramilitaries in the UDA, who have vowed to kill him in revenge for the murder of a rival "brigadier".
Adair (39), jailed for 16 years in 1995 for directing terrorism, had been given early release under the terms of the Belfast Agreement, which he publicly supported but is understood to have privately opposed.
However, Northern Secretaries Mr Peter Mandelson and Mr Paul Murphy both returned him to Maghaberry because of continued involvement in paramilitary activity.
His release follows completion of the mandatory two-thirds of his original sentence for the crime many believe was defined to include him.
"Adair left Northern Ireland this morning by military helicopter from RAF Aldergrove and was flown to Manchester, where he was met and interviewed by Greater Manchester Police," a Prison Service spokseswoman said.
"He was taken to England for safety reasons, both his own and the people with him."
He now joins his wife and other colleagues from the Shankill area of west Belfast, who were driven out of Northern Ireland in February 2003 at the height of a loyalist feud.
The Greater Manchester police warned they would "robustly" counter any criminal or anti-social behaviour.
Chief Supt Dave Lea said: "My officers will not allow people to break the law, no matter who they are. We will not tolerate criminal behaviour from anyone and residents should rest assured that we will robustly tackle criminal activity taking place anywhere in the Bolton area."
Mrs Gina Adair, who is being treated for cancer, has lived in the area for nearly two years. Their teenage son, Jonathan, has been jailed for a conspiracy to supply drugs and is due for release later this year.
The family, along with more than 20 close supporters including Mr John White, were driven out of Adair's lower Shankill Road heartland by rival UDA members.
Unionist reaction to the release was muted.
But the SDLP said it hoped Adair had been given a one-way ticket out of Northern Ireland by the authorities. Mr Alban Maginness, a north Belfast Assembly member, said Adair had brought fear, terror, death and destruction to the nationalist community of Belfast, and eventually to his own community.
"If he was to be released here there would probably be another round of feuding in the Shankill, and sooner or later the violence would be turned against nationalists again," he said.
"Unfortunately, Adair leaves behind him a sorry legacy of drug-dealing and organised crime which will take time to overcome. He represents all the people who cannot leave the Troubles behind, who try to maintain their power and life-styles by turning to rackets."
Adair could stay under close police scrutiny in Bolton in the short term, pending his son's prison release and as his wife is being treated for her illness.
Rumours persisted in Belfast last night that he may move to Spain, where some loyalists believe he has assets.
Adair was at the rented house in Bolton along with his family last night, where reporters' inquiries were ignored.