Derry trio deny bomb charge

The accused are fifty-year-old Eamon Cassidy, from Glenfada Park in the city, Daniel Martin Joseph Doyle, aged 47 and from Bluebellhill Gardens, and Eugene McLoone, aged 55 and from Abercorn Road.

They appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Friday where they also pleaded not guilty to having the improvised explosive device (IED) under suspicious circumstances on 26 September last year.

Cassidy pleaded not guilty to two further charges of having a time delay IED with intent to endanger life and under suspicious circumstances on dates between 31 December 2010 and March 28 last year.

The alleged possession of the pipe bomb, a charge which all three men face, arose after police intercepted a car driven by McLoone on Derry's Buncrana Road, uncovering the bomb under one of the seats, wrapped in a tracksuit top.

McLoone told police he had no knowledge of it and said he had stopped to give a lift to co-accused Cassidy, who asked to be taken to a local parochial house.

Cassidy alleged that he found the device lying on the road and did not want children to play with it, a claim disputed by police who say they had been monitoring the car for 20 minutes beforehand.

The further charges Cassidy faces relate to a 100lb beer keg bomb left inside a stolen Vauxhall Astra car at Bishop Street carpark, just across the road from the courthouse on 27 March last year.

At an earlier court hearing, it was claimed that Cassidy could allegedly be linked to the device, made safe after a controlled explosion, by his DNA profile which was uncovered during the investigation.

Judge Tom Burgess said the case file was with the office of the Lord Chief Justice for a decision as to whether the trial would be heard by a High Court or County Court judge, potentially in the new year.

McLoone was released on bail while Cassidy and Doyle were remanded into custody.