Bolton rejects Adair housing claim

The wife of the convicted paramilitary boss Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair has lost her legal challenge to be given council housing in Bolton.

Gina Adair - called "Mad Bitch" by the Irish media - applied to Bolton council for a home in March. After being refused she took legal action. Yesterday her case at Manchester County Court was dismissed, leaving the family of the jailed Ulster Defence Association leader to decide whether to appeal. Mrs Adair fled Northern Ireland in February with her children Natalie, 16, Chloe, 8, and Jay, 4, and some of her husband's supporters.

They were driven out of the Lower Shankill area of Belfast and then Scotland by rival loyalist factions. Shots fired by the Ulster Freedom Fighters at Mrs Adair's privately rented house in Horwichled to fears of more violence.

Bolton council rejected Mrs Adair's application, saying that she was homeless because of her family's involvement in terrorist activities. A council spokesman said it was concerned for "the well-being of the wider community in Bolton".