Hi °C | Lo °C Three Londonderry men arrested following the discovery of what the police described as an explosive-formed projectile have been refused bail.
The men, who were allegedly found with the device in Derry last Thursday, had their applications refused during a video-link hearing at the city's Magistrates Court.
Jason Ceulmans (42), from Lecky Road, Damien Harkin (47), from Westland Avenue, and Neil Christopher Hegarty (47), from Sackville Street, were arrested when police found the device in a car being driven in the Creggan last Thursday night.
Opposing bail, a detective constable told District Judge Greg McCourt that the device, which she described as viable, was found in a holdall on the floor of the Renault Megane.
All three are jointly charged with possessing the device, which the PSNI witness said contained what police believed to be Semtex and sugar.
They are also jointly charged with conspiracy to murder and with possessing a walkie-talkie for use in an act of terrorism. All three deny the charges.
The officer said police also recovered 20 metres of command wire and a bottle of inflammable spirits.
The letters ‘A’ and ‘F’ were found on a starter unit and she believed they stood for ‘Arm’ and ‘Fire’.
She said the defendants made no reply during police interviews, however Harkin, in a statement, said he was in the car “with the intention of using the spirits to burn the car and the device”. Applying for bail, barrister Andrew Moriarty said Harkin was a member of a Government-funded body working on a cross-community basis.
Solicitor Paddy MacDermott, representing Ceulmans and Hegarty, said both were deeply rooted within the community and it would be in their interests to turn up for their trial.
The judge said he was refusing bail because of a risk of the defendants re-offending and of concerns about them not turning up for their trial.
He remanded all three in custody until January 10 and said they had the right to apply to the High Court for bail.
