A MAN who brought terror to the streets of Bolton by placing a bomb under a car is starting a 20 year jail sentence.

Stanley Curry, a 47-year-old train driver, planted the home-made device under the car of John "Fat Jackie" Thompson as part of a bitter feud between Northern Ireland loyalists.

Curry was told by the judge at Preston Crown Court that he was guilty of an "act of terrorism"which demanded a substantial sentence.

Thompson only survived when the detonator, which was activated, failed to set off the bomb.

The explosives had been attached to the car beneath the driver's seat outside the house in Halliwell where Thompson was living in.

A three-week trial heard Thompson, a convicted criminal and former henchman of terrorist Johnny "Mad Dog"Adair, was one a number of people now living in Bolton who had been targeted by the mainstream UDA since they fled from Belfast in 2003.

And today, as Curry began life behind bars, the head of Bolton Police, Chief Supt Dave Lea, warned paramilitaries: "I will not tolerate criminals moving into the town to commit crime, no matter who they are."

A jury of four men and seven women found Curry guilty at Preston Crown Court of a charge of conspiracy to cause an explosion with intent to endanger life. He had denied the charge.

The court was told that Curry travelled to Bolton on December 16, 2003, the night before the bomb was discovered, to attach the device to the underside of Thompson's red Ford Escort outside his home in Windsor Grove, Halliwell.

Thompson heard the detonator explode as he drove to work at 7am the next day - and found parts of the bomb scattered on the road below his car.

A carbon copy of the bomb was manufactured by detectives investigating the attack and it was then placed under an identical Ford Escort.

The explosion they created tore a hole 12 inches in diameter in the floor of the car and left the driver's seat in tatters.

Curry of Bilton Grange Road, Birmingham, admitted during his trial that he had become a UDA supporter in the 1980s after a friend was killed in Northern Ireland while serving with the armed forces.

He had become a regular visitor to the headquarters of the UDA's South East Antrim branch where he befriended John Gregg - a UDA brigadier who gained notoriety for shooting Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in the 1980s.

Gregg and a fellow loyalist ,Robert Carson, were killed when the car they were travelling in was raked with gunfire in February, 2003.

The mainstream UDA blamed Adair's UDA C Company for the killings for the killings - although Adair himself was in prison at the time - and his supporters, including Thompson, were forced to flee their Shankill stronghold in Belfast following death threats.

Curry told the court that he was saddened by the shooting of Gregg and Carson, a UDA lieutenant, but had not wanted revenge on the perpetrators.

He said he was pictured on CCTV cameras close to Thompson's house the night before the bomb was discovered because he had been delivering money to help families who had been forced to flee Belfast.

He was seen driving a rented white van around Windsor Grove, Oxford Grove, Beatrice Street and Chorley Old Road and filmed walking along an alleyway at the rear of Thompson's home wearing a high-visibility workman's vest.

The prosecution also relied on DNA evidence recovered from tie wraps which had been used to secure the bomb to the car.

The DNA profile recovered by scientists showed that there was only a one in 450,000 chance that the same genetic fingerprint could have been left behind by another person.

Curry had also travelled from his home in Birmingham in November, 2003, and spent two nights at the Melrose Hotel on Chorley New Road.

He was arrested by police three weeks after the discovery of the bomb and lied to police, saying he was in Bolton to buy tickets for a football match that he later planned to sell.

Jailing Curry for 20 years Mr Justice Leveson said: "You helped to plant a bomb under the car of John Thompson. The only reason he was not killed was because the detonator failed to ignite the main charge. If it had worked, you may well have been guilty of murder."

The judge added: "Although this was an act of revenge, to take the law into your hands in this way is simply unacceptable."

After C urry was jailed, the head of Bolton Police, Chief Supt Lea, said: "The events of the morning of Wednesday, December 17, were no doubt terrifying for the victim and his family, but also for residents in Bolton who feared for their safety.

"Immediately after this incident a dedicated team of officers were deployed to piece together the events surrounding the bomb being placed and identify the person responsible, which involved hours of painstaking work to identify relevant CCTV images.

"Forensic teams also spent hours reconstructing the device in a bid to trace any DNA evidence, which may have been left behind.

"I know there have been a number of concerns within the community of Bolton following this attack and my officers have been working closely with residents to reassure them that we will not tolerate this type of activity.

"Today's conviction and sentence sends a clear message to those thinking of coming to Bolton to commit crime that it will not be tolerated. I can assure the residents of Bolton that I will put as many resources as are necessary into getting that message out to criminals."