A man who walked into a police station and confessed to a string of IRA offences in the 1990s was handed a 10-year prison sentence - but is expected to be freed within months.
Christopher Paul O'Kane (42) admitted playing a role in several attacks on security forces in Derry as well as assisting offenders in the aftermath of a Catholic policeman's murder.
Due to the offences falling under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, coupled with time he has already served on remand, it is expected that O'Kane, from Woodland Avenue in Derry, will be released from prison around May 2016.
Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Gordon Kerr said that while he accepted his role was not that of a bomb-maker or a planter of bombs, he was "acting as a member of a terrorist group".
However, he acknowledged that had he not confessed to the offences dating from 1991 to 1996, he would never have been prosecuted.
Belfast Crown Court heard that in one of the five counts he pleaded guilty to, O'Kane drove a boat taken from Foyle Search and Rescue - a service which his parents helped establish - which was used to plant a bomb on the jetty at the Fort George army base.
The 'lunchbox bomb' in 1994 injured two soldiers, one of whom is registered blind.
In May 2008 O'Kane walked into Strand Road police station and said he wished to confess to his involvement in various terrorist-related offences in the 1990s.
O'Kane, whose mental health began to deteriorate in 2007, was interviewed and released later that day and informed police wanted to make further enquiries.
Officers obtained his health records and discovered he had been a patient at Gransha Hospital.
Crown prosecutor Robin Steer said he was interviewed again in September 2008 but didn't answer questions and made no explanation for his confession, other than to say he was under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication.
After a report was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), a direction of 'no prosecution' was made.
However, in September 2012 O'Kane contacted police and again made admissions to a series of IRA offences.
Mr Steer said on this occasion he expressed remorse and told police that a TV programme which featured the mother of a murder victim had contributed to him coming forward.
Among the five offences he pleaded guilty to, O'Kane admitted assisting offenders in the January 1993 murder of 21-year-old policeman Michael Ferguson, who was shot in the head as he stood outside Dunnes Stores in Derry.
He said he saw the gunman run down the street after the shooting, during which he touched a car with an ungloved hand. O'Kane said he told his IRA 'officer commanding' what had happened, and was then ordered to tell him to wash his car to ensure there was no forensic evidence.
The Derry man also admitted two charges of doing an act with intent to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage.
In the first, in October 1993, he admitted being part of an IRA unit that attacked a police patrol in the Fanad Drive area of Derry. He carried a metal stand to the scene to support the 'doodlebug' mortar which richocheted off a Land Rover, without causing injury.
O'Kane also admitted placing a bomb on the windowsill of an Assistant Chief Constable who lived in Prehen in Derry's Waterside February 1994.
The detonator exploded but the main charge failed to go off, and no-one was injured as the family was on holiday at the time.
In addition, he admitted causing an explosion with intent to endanger life in relation to a trip wire bomb placed in a fence where the army were known to access the railway line from Ebrington Barracks in December 1993. The blast injured two soldiers, one of whom suffered perforated eardrums.
The court heard that prior to 2007 O'Kane had a good working record which included a senior position as an IT manager.
However, his marriage broke down and his mental health deteriorated, with medical evidence supporting the fact he has a 'dissocial personality disorder.'
Saying that the remorse his client felt was genuine, defence barrister Mark Mulholland said O'Kane "cut any links with the Provisional IRA" years ago.
