Deposed loyalist terror boss Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair suffered a final humiliation tonight when a new paramilitary regime was officially installed in his west Belfast stronghold.
With his wife Gina and tiny band of supporters exiled in Scotland, Ulster Defence Association men who defected from his power base in the Lower Shankill estate voted in his successor.
In a statement issued last night, the organisation also vowed to restore order in Protestant parts of the city following a violent feud which claimed four lives.
It said: "The officers and members of the Ulster Defence Association, West Belfast Brigade, met today and unanimously endorsed the new leadership."
It is understood the man who has taken over was one of Adair's closest associates until he quit his C Company unit as the bitter power struggle intensified.
One loyalist source said: "There has been a huge sigh of relief on the Shankill Road.
"The whole of west Belfast is behind the new leadership and no pressure was put on anybody."
The statement also hit out at three of the murders since the feud erupted after Adair and White were expelled from the UDA last September.
But there was no mention of the loyalist shot dead by the faction opposed to Adair.
PA News