By Anne Cadwallader
BELFAST — An inquiry has begun into how poison was placed in a high-protein, muscle-building drink belonging to the jailed UDA leader Johnnie Adair.
Adair became ill after taking the powder, mixed with water, in Magheraberry jail in January. Tests revealed it had been contaminated with a noxious substance.
As the jail is not segregated, it is not known how the poison was put into the powder or who was responsible, loyalists or republicans. When he was on parole several years ago, Adair was shot in the head at a rock concert.
Although he blamed republicans at the time, it’s thought rival loyalists were themselves involved in the murder bid against Adair, who has substantial drug-dealing interests.
Meanwhile, a prominent loyalist, and self-styled North Belfast fundamentalist Protestant has been jailed for 10 years for having two hand grenades and a pipe bomb in his car.
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At Belfast Crown Court, "Pastor" Clifford Peeples, aged 31, from Woodvale Road, admitted having the devices. They were uncovered when the car was stopped by police as it approached a highway on the outskirts of Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, on Oct. 26, 1999.
Part of the pipe bomb detonated while the army was defusing it. Peeples’s friend James McGookin Fisher, 35, from Deerpark Road in Belfast pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting him.
The court heard the men had been ferrying the explosives for some future operation. McGookin Fisher was sent to prison for eight years. It’s believed Peeples used to "bless" pipe bombs before they were taken off to be used in attacks on Catholics.
Sentencing Peeples, Justice Gillen said: "I find no uplifting thread in your previous conduct. The fact that you had adopted the mantle of leadership in your local community now serves to underline the wickedness of the crime you have committed."
When caught at the police checkpoint and asked to account for the bombs, Peeples denied knowledge of them. Six months before his arrest, similar Russian-made grenades were discovered in a west Belfast Orange Order hall used by Peeples. He was arrested, but released without charge.
Peeples was at one time involved in the now defunct pressure group "Families Against Intimidation and Terror. Another FAIT member, Vincent McKenna, is serving a sentence for sexually abusing his daughter.