BELFAST Crown Court heard yesterday that a man convicted of attempting to murder Johnny Adair was in an Ardoyne club at the time of the attack.
Stephen Larkin (25), a former Legionnaire from Jamaica Road, Belfast, is denying the attempted murder of Adair and another man who were wounded as they sat in a car outside Adair's Berlin Street home, off the Shankill Road, on March 6th, 1993.
Larkin was jailed for 16 years for the murder bid, but a retrial was ordered by the Court of Appeal last year, after new alibi witnesses came forward.
Yesterday one of these witnesses told Mr Justice Kerr that he had been playing pool with Larkin in the Highfield Club about the time of the shooting at 1.15 p.m.
He said he had gone to the club shortly after noon before going to a Cliftonville football match.
He said he had been introduced to Larkin the week before.
He had played six or seven games of pool before being beaten and one of the games had been with Larkin. He had left the club about 1.45 p.m. to attend the match.
"I went back to the club about 5.30 p.m. My friends and Larkin were still there, and I said `hello' to him," he said.
Another witness, who gave evidence at the earlier trial, said she had been helping to provide the food at a funeral meal in the club.
She arrived at the club shortly before 12.30 p.m. and stayed until after 3.30 p.m.
"I remember seeing Larkin playing pool with a crowd of people, and cannot recall seeing him leave the club at any time," she added.
She denied a suggestion that she was "twisting the truth" to help Larkin.
Evidence for the defence continues on Monday.