A well-known Ballymena loyalist who once tried to burn down a Catholic church has admitted possessing 67 Viagra tablets he bought over the internet.

Darren Gilmore, from Francis Street in the Harryville area of the Co Antrim town, yesterday appeared at Ballymena Magistrates Court, where a defence barrister said the tablets used to treat erectile dysfunction were for his client's own use.

District Judge Des Perry told the 40-year-old loyalist that he should be aware of the risks of obtaining such tablets over the internet from "some Canadian chemist".

Gilmore pleaded guilty to possessing Viagra without a prescription and which had been imported in contravention of the Medicines Act.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing herbal cannabis and amphetamine, commonly known as speed, on the same date - September 8 of last year.

The defendant was given an absolute discharge on the Viagra charge and was fined a total of £250 on the other charges. Defence barrister Stephen Law said his client's offending had "considerably tailed off".

Gilmore's criminal record includes intent to supply drugs. He was also jailed for an attack on The Church of Our Lady in Harryville in the 1990s.

The incident saw loyalists picket the chapel which they said was in response to the Orange Order being banned from marching through the mainly nationalist village of Dunloy nearby.

In 2014, Gilmore blamed the UDA for an early morning arson attack that targeted his home on Francis Street.

Gilmore, his partner, and their three children managed to escape injury after he was able to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.

At the time, he said he believed the UDA had a "vendetta" against him.