Loyalist supergrass Gary Haggarty confirmed to be alive after reports circulate he died of heart attack

Mr Haggarty’s solicitor, Ciarán Shiels of Madden & Finucane, said last night that “an online article” had wrongly reported that “their client Gary Haggarty had died of a heart attack”.

The statement added: “The article said this information was confirmed by Loyalist and Security sources as well as ‘two former RUC detectives who ran multiple paramilitary agents during the Troubles’.

“We can categorically confirm, having spoken with Mr Haggarty at length, that this information is entirely baseless and completely untrue.

“Journalists should understand the potential effect of the articles they write and publish.”

Last night social media was also awash with news of his death.

The loyalist supergrass who admitted the murders of five people among hundreds of offences.

Gary Haggarty, 47, was a former leader of a UVF unit in north Belfast. He was also a paid police informer for 11 years.

After turning state witness in 2009, he provided information on 55 loyalist murders and 20 attempted murders in the course of 1,015 police interviews.

Haggarty was given a 35-year jail term reduced to six-and-a-half years for helping the police.

In May 2018, it emerged that he had been released from prison and put into a witness protection programme in a secret location outside Northern Ireland.

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