On the morning of December 16, 2003, John 'Fat Jackie' Thompson got into his red Ford Escort and set off for work. A few minutes later, after driving over a speed bump near his home in Halliwell in Bolton, he heard a rattle then a loud bang.
A block of explosives fell to the floor together with the magnets that had been used to attach it. The detonator had exploded, but not with enough force to set off the bomb that had been planted directly under the driver's seat.
It was the surest sign yet that a feud which had torn apart the largest loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland had landed in the the quiet suburbs of Greater Manchester. Thompson was a close associate of Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair, leader of the Ulster Defence Association's notorious C company.
