Former UDA boss returned to jail

Former Ulster Defence Association boss Ihab Shoukri has been sent back to jail for allegedly handling stolen goods, it emerged…

Former Ulster Defence Association boss Ihab Shoukri has been sent back to jail for allegedly handling stolen goods, it emerged today.

Ihab Shoukri pictured last year
Ihab Shoukri pictured last year

Shoukri (33), was arrested while out on bail over a police raid on a north Belfast bar where loyalist paramilitaries were suspected of rehearsing for a show of strength.

Prosecutors are now understood to be preparing to go to the High Court in a bid to have his original bail revoked.

He was arrested on Friday at Belfast's Laganside Court complex.

READ MORE

After appearing before a magistrate on Saturday, he was returned to Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim.

A former UDA chief in north Belfast alongside his brother André, both men were expelled by the outlawed organisation in June last year.

Ihab Shoukri had been repeatedly refused bail on charges linked to the security swoop on the Alexander Bar 12 months ago. He was one of 17 men arrested when police in riot gear stormed the pub.

His lawyer claimed the men were finalising plans to announce the  UDA was to end all crime.

Shoukri was finally released on his bail in January, but ordered to live in England amid alleged threats to his life.

Later the conditions were altered to allow him back into Northern Ireland, so long as he stayed at a house near Larne, Co Antrim. It is believed the new charges against him are connected to a robbery in that town.