One of Northern Ireland’s longest-running trials has concluded with the acquittal of two men charged with terrorist offences.
Five years after the non-jury trial commenced, Mr Justice O’Hara returned ‘not guilty’ verdicts against Colin Duffy and Henry Fitzsimons.
As he delivered his judgement at Belfast Crown Court, the senior judge ruled that covert recordings which formed the heart of the Crown’s case did not meet the standard to secure convictions.
Lurgan man Colin Duffy (56), whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry and Fitzsimons, also 56 and from Dunmore Mews in Belfast, were charged with offences arising from a gun attack on a police convoy in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast on December 5 2013.
The charges included preparing and directing terrorism, and membership or professing to be members of the IRA, whilst Mr Fitzsimons was also charged with attempting to murder police in the convoy on December 6 2013, and possessing the two AK47 assault rifles and ammunition.
The day after the gun attack, devices secretly installed by the security services recorded a conversation between three men in the Lurgan Park areas of the Co Armagh town.
The discussion concerned the gun attack which took place the night before as well as future operation - and it was the Crown’s case that Mr Fitzsimons and Mr Duffy were two of the three men recorded.
The prosecution contended that the names ‘Collie’ and ‘Harry’ could be heard on the audio and that Mr Fitzsimons was intimately involved in the gun attack.
During the trial, several experts were called to give evidence about the audio recordings which were also carefully considered by Mr Justice O’Hara and which he branded “the most controversial part of the evidence in this intensely contested trial.”
Other parts of the Crown’s evidence was the presence of a silver Lexus, which was the same make and model as Mr Fitzsimon’s car and which was in Lurgan at the appropriate times.
Mr Fitzsimons defence team argued that even if his car was in Lurgan on the day in question, this was not enough to place him in the area discussing terrorist matters.
The Crown’s case against Duffy included his identification by way of recognition by two police officers in the laneway at Lurgan Park.
As he gave his ruling today, the Judge spoke of his “inability to conclude with the required confidence” that he could hear the names ‘Collie’ or ‘Harry’ on the audio.
He added that it would be “unsafe” to reply on his own impression of the audio evidence given the “clear warnings” from the experts for both the Crown and defence - one of whom spoke of the poor quality of the recordings.
Mr Justice O’Hara said: “In light of this conclusion I cannot say that I am satisfied to the requisite standard that the audio evidence proves that either Fitzsimons or Duffy was in the lane in Lurgan Park on the afternoon of the 6th of December, 2013.
“The reasonable and legitimate suspicions raised about their presence and their intent from other evidence are not enough to form the basis of a conviction of either of them.
“In these circumstances, I find both defendants not guilty on all charges.”
A third man, 62-year old Alex McCrory, was acquitted last March of all charges he faced.
In a ruling on this, Mr Justice O’Hara concluded a portion of the Crown’s evidence regarding the attribution of words on police transcripts of the audio recordings was “flawed” and it was therefore excluded.
Mr Duffy’s solicitor Peter Corrigan, of Phoenix Law, said: “This prosecution was doomed from its inception.
“This was a process manipulated and misrepresented by MI5 from the outset. A classic case of trying to make the glove fit.
“MI5 found out today that the rule of law applies equally to everyone - including them.”