Brian Walsh at Derry Magistrates’ Court today. PIX BY NORTH WEST NEWSPIX
EXCLUSIVE: THESE are the two dissident republican suspects who police believe were planning to detonate a bomb hidden inside a fire extinguisher during a PSNI recruitment event at a Derry hotel last year.
At Derry Magistrates’ Court today, Darren Poleon, 41, from Kells and Brian Walsh, 34, from Dunshaughlin, were told they will stand trial in Belfast over the plot.
They are expected to appear at Belfast Crown Court for an arraignment hearing at which a date for their trial will be fixed.
They are jointly charged that on Tuesday, October 6, 2015 they prepared an act of terrorism by placing an improvised explosive device.
The dissident suspects are also charged on the same date with possessing an improvised explosive device with intent to endanger life or cause damage to property and with conspiring to cause an explosion with an improvised explosive device.
Details of the deadly plot emerged when the pair from Co Meath faced the High Court in Belfast earlier this year in a failed bid for freedom.
They are currently on remand in Maghaberry prison charged over the plot which was aimed at the Waterfoot Hotel.
One of them was due to book into the hotel, recover the bomb from the hotel grounds, plant it in the hotel and leave.
Detectives believe the device would then have detonated on Saturday, October 10 as people milled around at the PSNI open day.
The PSNI’s Terrorist Investigation Unit recovered a sat nav from Poleon’s Ford Focus car showed it had had been driven to Derry from Meath on October 6.
Police recovered CCTV footage of the car being parked right behind the Waterfoot Hotel just off the Foyle Bridge dual carriageway.
Darren Poleon being escorted from Derry Court
The car was then driven to Eglinton before it returned to the hotel where police believe one person was collected and another dropped off.
The car containing the two defendants was stopped in Omagh the following day by police and officers found two pairs of latex gloves, a toy gun, bolt cutters, and a walkie-talkie.
Following arrest, they were released on bail on suspicion of going equipped to commit a burglary.
On Friday, October 9, police found an improvised explosive device beside the hotel containing 1.5 kilos of low explosives.
It is claimed fire extinguisher and had been concealed in undergrowth bordering the hotel car park.
Poleon had made a booking to stay in the Waterfoot Hotel overnight on October 9.
He booked his reservation with a credit card, but he gave a false address and false phone number.
But he failed to arrive at the hotel that day.
Police believe believe Poleon planned to go there, remove the IED from the undergrowth, and place it in the hotel where it was timed to explode during the PSNI recruitment event.
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