Court hears 'walking stick gun' found in drug search

Court hears that a 'walking stick gun' was found in drug search,

Police looking for drugs found firearms including a walking stick which can be turned into a gun, a court has heard.

Brian McManus, 54, of Aileen Terrace, Newry, County Down, appeared before the city's magistrates court charged with seven firearms offences.

A prosecution lawyer said police searching a large shed at his house found cutting machinery and component parts, along with evidence that deactivated guns had been reactivated.

Mr McManus was remanded in custody.

He denies a number of charges including possession of firearms with intent to injure, possession of a firearm with an intent to instil fear of violence, possession of a prohibited weapon, preparation for an act of terrorism, possession of articles likely to be of use to terrorists and possession of guns in suspicious circumstances.

The prosecution lawyer said that during police interviews, it emerged that the accused had been acting under duress.

The prosecution opposed bail given the seriousness of the offences, the possibility of flight from the jurisdiction and the fear that a relative could finance a trip abroad.

A defence solicitor said Mr McManus had no criminal record, was a registered carer for an uncle and had promised to surrender his passport.

The district judge said that such offences should now be history but this was not the case, and if duress had been involved, the accused could be prevailed upon to commit further offences if released.

He was remanded in custody to appear again by video link next month.

BBC.



Comment:
It seems that the police have now changed their story, at the weekend the media where told by police that the arrest was in connection with Dissident Republican Activity, now they have told the court that it was in regard to something completely different "drugs". It is said that Brian is very confident that he will get out on bail, I guarantee you he will !

Newry Man charged with terrorism offences after weapons find.

A 54-year-old man has been charged with a number of terrorism offences following the discovery of weapons.

He was arrested in Newry on Friday by detectives investigating dissident republican activity.

The man is due to appear at Newry Magistrates Court in Monday.

He will face a number of charges including possession of articles likely to be of use to terrorists, and possession of firearms and ammunition.



Security sources have named the man as Brian McManus (nick named - The Link )of Aileen Terrace Newry.

FAIR faces new funding probe with OFMDFM

Victims group FAIR has had its core funding frozen ahead of a new financial investigation, institgated by the Office of First and Deputy Minister and the Community Relations Council.

FAIR spokesman Willie Frazer said yesterday that the Community Relations Council (CRC) told him on Tuesday that it was coming to do an audit.

"They couldn't say why," he said. "This core funding is very important to FAIR now as in this phase it would have been increased and would have allowed us to continue despite the withdrawal of Pobal's funding from Dublin."

FAIR gets £20,000 of core funding every quarter to cover its basic running costs but said yesterday that its next payment had now been frozen.

The news comes only days after it was revealed that Dublin government body Pobal confirmed that it had withdrawn funding of almost £900,000 from FAIR due to alleged failures in administration.

Mr Frazer said that this was the first time that CRC had ever frozen FAIR's funding ahead of an audit.

"CRC has admitted that we are one of the most audited groups in this sector across Northern Ireland," Mr Frazer added.

"They say it is the luck of the draw, but we always get picked for auditing."

He alleges his group is being targeted because its high-profile campaigning for IRA victims clashes with current political progress.

"We are the only objecting voice to what is going on for victims of terrorism, the only ones speaking out for justice and recognition for innocent victims," he said.

Duncan Morrow, chief executive of the CRC, said the decision to probe FAIR's finances had been taken jointly with its managing department, OFMDFM.

He said the decision was taken in light of the probe into FAIR by the Special EU Projects Body (SEUPB), which is the Northern Ireland partner of FAIR's Dublin-based funder, Pobal.

Mr Morrow said: "In the light of some of the findings of the investigation undertaken by SEUPB, CRC is joining with OFMDFM in a further investigation into matters at FAIR in fulfilment of our responsibility to assure ourselves that public money is being properly managed.

"Until it is complete, we will not be commenting on the content or progress of the investigation.

"FAIR is audited in accordance with strict guidelines and is subject to the normal auditing and accounting rules which apply to all groups funded under the CRC Victims and Survivors scheme."

A CRC spokesman confirmed that no core funding would be released to FAIR, subject to the outcome of the OFMDFM/CRC probe.

OFMDFM last night declined to comment. "In light of ongoing investigations the department is unable to comment at this time," a spokesman said.

The chairman of the assembly's OFMDFM committee, Danny Kennedy, said any such intervention by OFMDFM in CRC funding of a specific group would be "prejudicial" and "cause for concern".

"I would have thought such a course of action by OFMDFM would be unusual," he said.

"It would represent departmental or ministerial intervention at a level that would be prejudicial to any individual or group."



http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/FAIR-faces-new-funding-probe.6546123.jp

Dissident republicans planted spy cameras in trees at MI5’s Belfast HQ.

Dissident republicans planted spy cameras in trees at MI5’s £20m base at Palace Barracks in Northern Ireland.


By Ciaran Barnes and Alan Murray
Monday, 13 September 2010

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/bombers-used-video-cameras-to-spy-on-mi5-base-14947375.html#ixzz0zPhYgfeO
The army rumbled the sophisticated Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) spying operation during a search of a clump of trees on the Old Holywood Road overlooking the rear of the barracks where MI5 has its £20m Loughside base.
It is understood four digital cameras were concealed in the trees near Redburn Country Park.
It is feared ONH, which bombed Palace Barracks in April, has used the recordings to target soldiers and build profiles on spooks working at the new spy base.
Senior security sources in London tried to play down the cameras being found, saying only that trees were cleared and a new fence erected because of concerns the wooded area could conceal gunmen.
And the PSNI would only say when asked if cameras had been found that no materials “likely to be of use to terrorists” had been found in the Redburn area since the April bomb attack.
But well placed sources in Belfast insisted the cameras were discovered and said the find was embarrassing for MI5 which employs more than 300 people at the base.
“There were four cameras hidden in the trees at the back of Palace Barracks which covered all angles of the base,” said an insider.
“That is why all the perfectly healthy trees were chopped down instead of just erecting the fence. That measure showed how concerned MI5 was by what dissidents were doing and by the atrocity they seemed to be planning.
“The cameras were battery-powered and had been there for some time, maybe months.
“They were also backed up with memory sticks.”
It is understood ONH chiefs regard the planting of the spy cams as a major success even though the equipment has now been found.
It is thought ONH members would make regular trips to Redburn Country Park to collect the memory sticks and change the batteries on the cameras.
Our source said the discovery showed ONH were becoming more dangerous. “These guys are becoming a more sophisticated paramilitary outfit,” added the insider.
“In April they exploded a car bomb at the gates of Palace Barracks, and now they are spying on MI5.
“This shows the extremely serious threat that ONH poses, they are very, very dangerous.”
DUP MP Gregory Campbell expressed alarm at our revelations.
He said: “It would have very serious implications if this was the case — it’s very concerning.”
Since April's bomb attack staff at Palace Barracks have driven into the base through a revamped front entrance manned by armed Ministry of Defence police.
But the rear of the base that was damaged in the explosion is now operational again following repairs.
Following the bomb, security chiefs carried out a major security review and identified the trees where the cameras were concealed as a potential danger spot.
It was feared gunmen could also easily hide there and mount a Massereene-style gun attack on the base's sentry post and vehicles entering or leaving.
In March of last year, soldiers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar were shot dead by gunmen at the entrance to Massereene army base in Antrim.
The gunmen had hidden in bushes opposite the base entrance so they could watch until soldiers came out to collect pizzas and then open fire on them.
Army headquarters refused to comment on the camera find, but one security source described the area where they were hidden.
“It was a densely wooded patch that was easily accessed,” he said.
“In winter time you wouldn’t see anyone moving into it from a distance, or setting up an operation to riddle the entrance in a repeat of the Massereene attack”.
Last week MI5’s Director General Jonathan Evans told the Commons’ Intelligence and Security Committee
that his organisation had not anticipated the way in which the security situation has deteriorated in Northern Ireland.
He said: “The Service has considerably more what we would call priority, that is life-threatening investigations in Northern Ireland, than we do in the rest of Great Britain.”
The recent 33 per cent increase in agents and analysts based at Loughside inside the Palace Barracks complex makes it by far the largest MI5 base outside London.
The complex is the main back-up to M15 headquarters in London.


Read more:

Strong response' to documentary on IRA murders.

Published Date: 09 September 2010
A TELEVISION programme about the IRA killing of two tourists in Holland in 1990 has provoked a strong response in Australia following its screening last Sunday.
London-based Australian lawyers Stephen Melrose, 24, and Nicholas Spanos, 28, were gunned down in the Dutch border town of Roermond after being mistaken for off-duty British soldiers.

Channel 7 producers had travelled to Northern Ireland via Holland last month, along with the family of one of the victims, to make a documentary about the Melrose family's difficulty in coming to terms with the murder.

One of the show's producers, who accompanied the still-grieving family, said the documentary "rated very well" with around 1.5 million viewers on the night.

Mick O'Donnell said: "There was a strong response from the audience in letters and calls – you can see a mix of comments on the website.

"Others have contacted us offering more information, so this is a subject we're likely to revisit."

Stephen Melrose's parents Roy and Beverley Melrose made the trip along with their two daughters in the hope of finding "closure".

One of their daughters, Helen Jackson, told the News Letter: "My dad is almost 80 years of age and felt he had to make the trip this year or he might never be able to do it."

Ms Jackson said meeting IRA victims in Northern Ireland was "a source of great comfort" but added: "It's so frustrating to realise that so many others, as well as my family, have never seen anyone face justice for murder."

The gang responsible for the Roermond murders were armed with a Kalashnikov rifle – and a handgun used in a string of terrorist attacks in both Northern Ireland and mainland Europe.

At one point during the trip the TV crew approached a suspected IRA member who was tried and acquitted of the murders, along with three others, in 1991.

The confrontation took place last month when the documentary makers approached Donna Maguire as she sat in her car in Newry.

Writing on the TV company's website, producer Ross Coulthart said: "When I finally tap on Donna Maguire's car window and ask her to offer some sympathy to the Australian family of Stephen Melrose, there is a microsecond before Donna realises that her past has caught up with her.

"Her face initially has a friendly greeting, and she then flashes recognition and turns her head away from our camera.

"Twenty years on, is it shame? We hope so."

One typical comment of support emailed to the Channel 7 website after the screening read: "It has taken an Australian TV company to ask the hard questions and to confront the suspects. Well done Ross and crew."

Belfast Newsletter.

Collateral Damage By Ross Coulthart.

Watch Australia's Sunday Night Channel Seven TV documentary Collateral Damage by Ross Coulthart.


Ross Coulthart confronts Gerry Adams and traces Gerard Harte and Donna Maguire, Coulthart goes to the homes of Harte and Maguire to confront them over the murders of Australian lawyers, Stephan Melrose (24) and Nick Spanos (28).
After twenty years Donna Maguires past catches up with her.

Watch Collateral Damage By Ross Coulthart.

Watch the Australian TV documentary by Ross Coulthart.

Here is the Collateral Damage documentary by Sunday Nights Ross Coulthart.

Ross Coulthart confronts Gerry Adams and traces Gerard Harte and Donna Maguire, Coulthart goes to the homes of Harte and Maguire and tries to confront them over the murders of Australian lawyers, Stephan Melrose (24) and Nick Spanos (28).

Many Thanks To Sean M. from Sydney for the video.

IRA past catches up with mum.

IRA past catches up with mum
Former double-murder suspect Donna Maguire was confronted by an Australian film crew at school gates
Suzanne Breen, Northern Editor

Donna Maguire (above) was shocked to be approached by a journalist as she waited for her children to come out of school Former IRA bomber Donna Maguire, once the most wanted female terrorist in Europe, has been confronted in Newry by an Australian film crew making a documentary about the murder of two tourists in Holland.




Australian lawyers, Stephan Melrose (24) and Nick Spanos (28), were shot dead in Roermond 20 years ago by an IRA unit who mistook them for British soldiers. Maguire was arrested four weeks later in a forest near the Belgian-Dutch border after a farmer heard shots and uncovered an arms cache.




The IRA woman and three men were charged with the double murder. The court heard Maguire was a key IRA figure. Despite what the prosecution believed was a strong case, Maguire and two of the men were acquitted; the third man had his conviction overturned on appeal.




Maguire was later convicted of the attempted murder of British soldiers at Osnabruck army base in Germany. Now aged 43, she lives in Upper Faughart, Dundalk, with her husband, convicted IRA bomber Leonard 'Bap' Hardy and their children, who go to school in Newry. The documentary on the double murder, and the confrontation with Maguire, will be shown on Australia's Channel Seven today.




The film-makers allege that British intelligence had advance knowledge of the IRA attack but failed to prevent it, probably to protect informers in the IRA team. Award-winning investigative journalist Ross Coulthart said: "I approached Donna as she waited in her car to pick up her children from school.




"I asked her if she had anything to say about the murder of two innocent Australians in Holland. She said nothing. I told her we had assurances from the Dutch prosecutor that she could never be prosecuted again and this was an opportunity for her to tell her story but she didn't reply.




"She looked very shocked to see our film crew. I asked her if she ever thought her IRA past would catch up with her but she said nothing."




"Donna Maguire clearly loves her children, and good on her, but it will amaze Australians that former IRA members are living normal lives while the families of IRA victims are still in such pain," he added.




Four months before the double murder, Maguire was acquitted in a Dublin court of possessing explosives and maps of a British army base in Germany. Her future husband Hardy was convicted.




In 1994, Maguire and two other IRA suspects were acquitted in Germany of the murder of a British Army soldier, although the judge said it was "clear they are members of the IRA". In 1996, Maguire received £13,500 compensation after tripping on a broken paving stone in Newry.

The Sunday Tribune.
September 5, 2010

Collateral Damage: Sunday Night

Ross Coulthart's investigation into the cold blooded murders of two Australians by the IRA in Holland 20 years ago has caused quite a stir.

Australian lawyers, Stephan Melrose (24) and Nick Spanos (28), were shot dead in Roermond 20 years ago

Special Thanks, to Sean M. in sydney for the video.

Collateral Damage by Ross Coulthart

Collateral Damage:

Twenty years ago, a hit-team of Irish Republican Army terrorists cut a murderous swathe across Europe. Ross Coulthart investigates why two young Australians were murdered by the IRA and became innocent victims of a dirty war.

Ross Coulthart and his film crew confront Donna Maguire in Newry

Ross Coulthart Reports.

Ross Coulthart Blog:

Exposed: IRA Murder Of Australians Melrose and Spanos

Twenty years ago, a hit-team of Irish Republican Army terrorists cut a murderous swathe across Europe. Ross Coulthart investigates why two young Australians were murdered by the IRA and became innocent victims of a dirty war.

Ross Coulthart Reports.

You can watch the programme here.


Donna Maguire (born c. 1967 in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland[1]) is a former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) once described as Europe's most dangerous woman.[1]

A former convent girl from Newry, Maguire joined the IRA and was trained by Dessie Grew according to The Independent newspaper, who would later be killed in an ambush by the SAS in October 1990. In early 1989 she travelled to Europe as part of an IRA active service unit based in The Hague and Hanover.[1] On 12 July 1989 Maguire and Leonard Hardy were arrested at Rosslare, County Wexford after arriving on a ferry from Cherbourg, and mercury switches, explosives and photographs of British Army bases in Germany were seized. At their trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin in February 1990 Maguire was acquitted of possession of explosives, but Hardy was sentenced to five years imprisonment.[1] German authorities had requested Maguire's extradition in relation to a bombing at a British Army barracks at Osnabrück on 19 June 1989 and the killing of a British soldier in a car bomb attack in Hanover several days later, but Maguire was not re-arrested when she left court and she immediately returned to Europe.[1]

Maguire was arrested in Belgium near the border with the Netherlands on 16 June 1990, after a farmer reported hearing gunshots in woods and two handguns, a machine gun and explosives were found nearby.[1][2] A second IRA member was arrested with Maguire but escaped across the border before being captured by Dutch police, who also arrested a second man who had been travelling with Maguire.[3] Maguire was extradited to the Netherlands on 6 December 1990, and in March 1991 Maguire was acquitted of the murder of two Australian tourists mistaken for off-duty British soldiers in Roermond in May 1990, a decision which was upheld at an appeal in July of the same year,[1][4] and on 7 October 1991 Maguire was extradited to Germany.[1]

While on trial in Düsseldorf on charges relating to the June 1990 murder of a British soldier in Dortmund, German authorities announced on 16 November 1992 she was also being charged with attempted murder over the 1989 Osnabrück bombing.[5] On 9 June 1994 Maguire and three other IRA members were acquitted of the Dortmund murder although the judge said it was "clear they are members of the IRA and trained as IRA volunteers",[6] and also acquitted of involvement in the May 1990 bombing of a British Army base in Hanover.[1][7] She was remanded into custody to await trial on other charges relating to the 1989 Osnabrück bombing,[7] and in June 1995 received a nine-year prison sentence after being found guilty of attempted murder, explosives offences and spying on British Army bases in Germany with intent to sabotage. Due to the length of time spent in custody on remand—during the trial Maguire became the longest serving remand prisoner in German legal history—Maguire walked free from court.[1]

On 17 January 1996 Maguire received £13,500 compensation due to a 1985 accident in Newry, when she tripped due to a broken paving stone. She told the court "I have had to give up dancing, jogging and swimming because the ankle swells up. I can't wear high heels and the ankle is not very stable when I walk on rough ground or gravel".[8] The compensation award was described as a disgrace by Ulster Unionist Party MP Ken Maginnis, and Conservative Party MP David Wilshire said it was shocking and obscene and called for the law to be changed. Colin Parry, who received £7,500 after the death of his 12-year-old son in the Warrington bomb attacks, called for a review of the compensation system saying "It's a kick in the teeth. Every time these judgments come along, it reminds us how little society appears to value a child's life".[8]

Maguire married Hardy in County Louth in July 1996,[9] and they have three children.[10] Hardy was arrested in August 2005 while on a family holiday in Torremolinos, Spain and extradited to Germany in January 2006 to face charges over his role in the 1989 Osnabrück bombing. In April 2006 Hardy was found guilty of attempted murder and deliberately causing an explosion and was sentenced to six years imprisonment. It later transpired Hardy was not sent to prison and had left the court via a side door with Maguire, and a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Justice issued a statement saying that "Leonard Hardy is not in detention".[10]