A man - reported to be a leading loyalist paramilitary - is fighting for his life tonight after being shot up to eight times near north Belfast today.
The victim, Mark Haddock (37) is allegedly a Ulster Volunteer Force member and a suspected drug dealer. He was shot in the Mossley estate, Newtownabbey.
He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he was tonight critically ill.
Haddock had been out on bail while on trial for attempted murder charges. A judge has been considering the case against him for a savage attack on a nightclub doorman close to the scene of the shooting.
He is reported to have been living in fear for months after many of his closest allies turned against him. As forensics experts scoured the scene for clues, loyalist sources claimed it was only a matter of time before Haddock was attacked.
Haddock had denied trying to kill bouncer Trevor Gowdy, who was found unconscious in the Monkstown estate in Newtownabbey in December 2002. Mr Gowdy was attacked with an iron bar and a hatchet.
The trial began at Belfast Crown Court last year but was halted after Mr Gowdy broke down in the witness box in November and was deemed medically unfit to give evidence.
Earlier this month Mr Gowdy was given permission to testify against Haddock from a secret location in England.
The victim, who is living under a witness protection scheme, feared he would be killed if he returned to Northern Ireland for the trial.
Originally based in the fiercely loyalist Mount Vernon area of north Belfast, Haddock has long been suspected of being a senior UVF commander.
PA