Johnston's luxury home made �410,000 at auction

The auction of Jim Johnston's house on Wednesday was the first public sale of a criminal's property by the Assets Recovery Agency.

Johnston, 45, a member of the loyalist paramilitary Red Hand Commando, was shot dead in the driveway of his home at Crawfordsburn, County Down, in May 2003.

The killing was part of a bitter feud between rival loyalist factions.

In September, the agency was granted a High Court order to seize Johnston's cash and property assets worth more than �1m.

Crime fighting initiatives

It was the first civil recovery order in the UK to exceed �1m.

The agency said at the time that the proceeds would be put back into crime fighting initiatives.

Alan McQuillan, who heads the agency in Northern Ireland, said one of its purposes was to stop the assets being recycled back into other criminal activity.

"This property was recovered as a result of a final settlement with the family, with the estate of Jim Johnston," he said.

"Most of the clients we are dealing with are very much alive."

Similar sales in the Republic of Ireland have been carried out in the crackdown against organised crime.

The agency, which began work last year, is modelled on the Republic of Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau, which was set up in 1996 after the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.

The agency investigates dirty money, from prostitution to protection rackets.

If it can convince a court that someone is enjoying a lifestyle which they cannot possibly have earned legally, a judge can order their possessions to be confiscated and sold.