Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair carried the coffin of his best pal Sam McCrory yesterday.
The ex-terror chief donned black sunglasses at McCrory's funeral service at Masonhill Crematorium, Ayr. A floral tribute of the Red Hand of Ulster lay on top of the 57-year-old's coffin when it arrived, with a piper leading the funeral procession with the song Highland Cathedral.
Hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their respects to the former leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) after he died in Scotland last month. Dozens of friends and family from McCrory’s hometown Belfast were in attendance.
The 57-year-old, known as Skelly, died after accidentally fallen on concrete steps and suffered a catastrophic head injury as a result. Tributes to McCrory - the first loyalist paramilitary to come out as gay - flooded social media after his passing.
Rumours that he had been the victim of violence spread, however, that speculation was roundly rejected by those closest to him and his family.
Tracey Coulter wrote to McCrory’s 5,000 Facebook friends, urging the spreading of rumours about his sudden demise to stop.
She said: “People really need think before they speak. Yes Samuel Skelly McCrory has passed away [but] through a fall down concrete steps. Not murder or the rest of the stories that people [are] chin wagging.
"God bless you Skelly. You were loved and will be missed sorely. Thinking of your best friend Johnny and all your entire family and all who knew you and loved you dearly.”
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