2.10.04
BBC
Adair's son sentence reduced
Jonathan Adair had been jailed for five years
The son of jailed loyalist leader Johnny Adair has had his prison sentence for drug dealing reduced after an Appeal Court judge took account of the "unusual" circumstances of his life.
Jonathan Adair had been part of a "dial-a-drug" scheme in Bolton, supplying heroin and crack cocaine, after the Adair family fled there during a loyalist feud.
The 19-year-old, with an address at Chorley New Road in Bolton, had been sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year.
He and two cohorts had been caught drug dealing in an undercover police operation.
Adair and his family had been living in Bolton after they left their home in the Shankill Road area of west Belfast in February 2003 to escape loyalist in-fighting.
'Good character'
Adair's father, Johnny, had been returned to jail the previous month to complete a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism.
Cutting Jonathan Adair's sentence by 15 months, the Appeal Court judge in London described him as of "entirely good character" before his prosecution.
Speaking on Friday, he said Adair had lived his life under "an unusual and severe degree of personal strain".
He added that, while this did not excuse drug dealing, it was a mitigating factor.
Two men who were jailed along with him also had their sentences reduced.
Ian Truesdale, 43, had his five-year sentence cut to four years and three months while William Truesdale, 41, of Chorley New Road, Horwich, had his four-year term reduced to three years and nine months.
The Adairs were among a number of families from Belfast who moved to Greater Manchester in 2003 following violent in-fighting between loyalists.
Adair's son sentence reduced
Jonathan Adair had been jailed for five years
The son of jailed loyalist leader Johnny Adair has had his prison sentence for drug dealing reduced after an Appeal Court judge took account of the "unusual" circumstances of his life.
Jonathan Adair had been part of a "dial-a-drug" scheme in Bolton, supplying heroin and crack cocaine, after the Adair family fled there during a loyalist feud.
The 19-year-old, with an address at Chorley New Road in Bolton, had been sentenced to five years in prison earlier this year.
He and two cohorts had been caught drug dealing in an undercover police operation.
Adair and his family had been living in Bolton after they left their home in the Shankill Road area of west Belfast in February 2003 to escape loyalist in-fighting.
'Good character'
Adair's father, Johnny, had been returned to jail the previous month to complete a 16-year sentence for directing terrorism.
Cutting Jonathan Adair's sentence by 15 months, the Appeal Court judge in London described him as of "entirely good character" before his prosecution.
Speaking on Friday, he said Adair had lived his life under "an unusual and severe degree of personal strain".
He added that, while this did not excuse drug dealing, it was a mitigating factor.
Two men who were jailed along with him also had their sentences reduced.
Ian Truesdale, 43, had his five-year sentence cut to four years and three months while William Truesdale, 41, of Chorley New Road, Horwich, had his four-year term reduced to three years and nine months.
The Adairs were among a number of families from Belfast who moved to Greater Manchester in 2003 following violent in-fighting between loyalists.
