Loyalist acquitted of killing Adair associate

Belfast - Man acquitted of McCullough killing

A leading Belfast loyalist has been acquitted of murdering Johnny Adair's former lieutenant Alan 'Bucky' McCullough.

Belfast Crown Court judge Mr Justice McLaughlin also directed that 43-year-old William 'Mo' Courtney be found not guilty of being a member of both the outlawed UFF and UDA.

In acquitting him, the judge said he found some of the prosecution evidence insufficiently cogent and reliable.

Despite the not guilty verdicts, Mo Courtney remains in prison as the prosecution decides whether to take the case to the court of appeal.

Alan McCullough, 21, was a close associate of the leading loyalist figure Johnny Adair.

In 2003 he and Adair were among a large number of people forced out of the Shankill area after a feud which cost a number of lives.

Several months later, however, McCullough returned to his mother’s home in the Shankill apparently after being assured of his safety.

A few weeks later he was shot dead and his body left in a shallow grave. 

Mo Courtney was charged with the killing and during his trial Alan McCullough's mother said that the last time she saw her son alive was getting into a car with Courtney.