FORMER terror boss Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair was arrested again on Monday night - hours after being freed by magistrates.

Adair was out of jail for less than six hours before he was arrested in Horwich after an alleged assault on his wife Gina.

The ex-Ulster Defence Association chief had appeared before Bolton Magistrates accused of a campaign of harassment against former UDA comrades now living in Bolton.

He was sentenced to 39 days in prison - but was immediately released because he had already served that amount of time waiting for his case to be heard. Adair was mobbed by his family and supporters as he left the court building.

But he was back in custody after police were called to a disturbance in Horwich where he was celebrating his release with family and supporters.

Police said Adair, aged 41, was arrested at 6.45pm after an alleged assault on his wife in Old Station Park, off Chorley Old Road, Horwich. He is being questioned by police.

A second man, believed to a friend of Adair's son Jonathan, was arrested on suspicion of driving a car under the influence of excess alcohol.

Officers took a statement from Mrs Adair, aged 38, who has been fighting cancer. She did not suffer any serious injuries.

Mrs Adair was among a group of about 10 family and friends who had earlier celebrated in the public gallery when Adair was told he was to be released from Bolton Magistrates Court.

Adair changed his plea to guilty before he was due to stand trial accused of harassing Stephen McQuaid and his girlfriend Kerry Thompson.

He was ordered not to contact the pair and the court placed a restraining order on him.

A second man, William Woods, aged 37, admitted one count of harassment in connection with the same incident.

Woods, of Halliwell Road, Halliwell, was also released by magistrates and served with a restraining order.

The court was told that a bitter feud had broken out among Loyalists who fled to Bolton from Belfast's Shankill Road in 2003.

Stephen Sargent, prosecuting, said the friction was caused by one group, which included Mr McQuaid and Miss Thompson, who wanted to start new lives after being driven out of Northern Ireland when a bloody feud erupted among UDA members.

Mr Sargent said a faction, which included Adair and Woods, were trying keep the "ethos" that others had left behind in Belfast.

Adair and Woods were warned by police in April after Miss Thompson, aged 24, said she had been pushing her baby in a buggy along the road when she saw Adair driving very slowly in his black Vauxhall Astra.

She became "extremely concerned" because she feared he might have discovered where she lived, the court was told.

Adair and Woods were arrested following two incidents in August this year.

On August 15, Woods followed Mr McQuaid into a laundrette in Halliwell Road and punched him in front of his six-year-old daughter.

A short time later, Woods and Adair drove to Mr McQuaid's home and shouted threatening comments from their car.

McQuaid, aged 25, confronted Adair and Woods with a cricket bat and they drove off.

The next day, Adair was seen driving past McQuaids house with Woods and three other men, including Wayne Dowie, in the car.

Woods and Dowie, who has now been warned for harassment, threatened Mr McQuaid, shouting: "Come out now and we will kill you."

Andrew Costello, defending Adair and Woods, said they had made "idle threats" to Mr McQuaid and Miss Thompson after personal details, including Adair's address and his children's schools, were found on an internet site used by Loyalists in Northern Ireland.

"It's for that reason that they sought to remonstrate with them," he said.

He claimed Woods and Adair also wanted a new life in Bolton and that Adair had moved there to spend more time with his family.

Both Adair and Woods were each fined £150.

Adair did not comment when he left court to be reunited with his wife Gina.

Around 30 people linked to the UDA moved to Bolton in February 2003 after the killing of Loyalist icon John Gregg.

Adair was sentenced to 16 years in prison for directing terrorism in 1995.

He was freed under the Good Friday agreement in 1999 but his licence was revoked twice, first in 2000 and again in early 2003, for activities relating to loyalist terrorism.

He joined his wife Gina at her rented home in Chorley New Road, Horwich, in January this year after he was released from Maghaberry jail in Northern Ireland after serving two thirds of his sentence.