Brian Walsh to face court today charged over bomb plot at Derry hotel hosting PSNi event open day. PIC NORTH WEST NEWS PIX
THESE are the two dissident republican suspects who are to face today over a plot to murder police and civilians at a PSNI recruitment day.
Darren Poleon and Brian Walsh deny police claims they were planning to detonate a bomb hidden inside a fire extinguisher during the recruitment event at a Derry hotel last year.
Poleon, 42, from Kells and Walsh, 35, from Dunshaughlin, both Co Meath, will appear in the dock of Belfast Crown Court later today at a non-jury Diplock hearing to be formally arraigned on terrorism charges.
It will be the first time they will be able to enter ‘not guilty’ pleas to the four charges they each jointly face on the indictment.
They are jointly charged that on Tuesday, October 6, 2015, they prepared an act of terrorism by placing an improvised explosive device beside the Waterfoot Hotel in Derry.
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.
They are also accused of having “a Satellite Navigation System, bolt cutters, a balaclava, binoculars, assorted gloves, hand held two-way radios, disguises, head torch and plastic adhesive tape connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism’’.
At today’s arraignment hearing, a date for their trial will be fixed for the trial in the New Year in front of a judge sitting alone.
Detectives from the PSNi’s Terrorist Investigation Unit (TIU) believe the bomb was designed to go off on Saturday, October 10, as people milled around the PSNI open day in the hotel.
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.
Co Meath dissident republican terror suspect Darren Poleon. PIC: NORTHWEST NEWS PIX
Prosecution counsel said the pair were in a Ford Focus car stopped by police in Omagh, Co Tyrone three days before the bomb was discovered.
They claimed to be in the area to buy an engine, the court heard.
Officers found a rucksack, bolt cutters, walkie-talkies, binoculars, a head torch, toy gun, latex gloves, wigs and a fake beard inside the vehicle.
At that stage Poleon and Walsh were arrested on suspicion of going equipped for theft, but later released on bail.
But the prosecution barrister claimed the “landscape changed’’ after the bomb was discovered on October 9.
Police recovered CCTV footage of the car being parked right behind the Waterfoot Hotel just off the Foyle Bridge dual carriageway.
The car was then driven to Eglinton before it returned to the hotel where police believe one person was collected and another dropped off.
She contended: “The positioning of the IED (Improvised Explosive Device) was a transit location.
“The intention would be to move the device closer to or within the hotel prior to the scheduled PSNI recruitment event due to take place the following day.”
Had the bomb detonated, the barrister continued, shrapnel from the casing could have caused death or serious injury.
She claimed it was highly significant that Poleon’s DNA was found on a fuse inside the IED.
According to the prosecution the two men made a 140-mile road trip with the explosives.
Examination of the satellite navigation system in the car they were in revealed it travelled from Co Meath to the “destination” at a roundabout near the Waterfoot Hotel, the court heard.
Police cordon off the scene around the Waterfoot Hotel last year after a bomb was found
The sat nav was also said to contain an address for Belfast Metropolitan College – where a similar police meeting was to be held.
Footage recovered from a supermarket in Co Cavan allegedly shows the two accused buying a rucksack on October 6.
Mr Justice Stephens was told a reservation at the hotel for the night before the recruitment event was made using Poleon’s name.
But he gave a false address and also gave a phone number allegedly attributed to his wife.
However, no one turned up for the booking.
Poleon’s defence barrister Andrew Moriarty stressed there was no fingerprint evidence or CCTV footage of when the bomb was left at the scene.
He also pointed out that the device contained a low-grade firework mix, arguing that it was unlikely to cause the “carnage and loss of life” initially claimed.
Counsel for both men urged the judge to release their clients from custody due to alleged delay in the case.
However, bail was denied.
Poleon also had a bail bid to attend a confirmation service in Kells refused after a judge said it was “stretching he definition of compassionate parole’’ normally reserved for prisoners wanting to attend a funeral.
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