31/01/2014

Other News In Brief

DoE Review Finds Toxic Dumping Posed No Risk

A Department of the Environment review has ruled that the secret dumping of radioactive waste in Northern Ireland posed no risk to human health.

The controlled burials in Belfast and Londonderry in the early 1980s were revealed in previously confidential government files.

The DoE review said that the toxic materials had been allowed to decay for a long time before its disposal.

Environment Minister Mark Durkan had ordered the review.

Company Directors Given Suspended Sentences Over Asbestos Dumping

Two company directors have pleaded guilty to dumping tonnes of asbestos at a former factory in south Belfast between 2008 and 2012.

77-year-old Samuel James Shields and 61-year-old Roy Millar Molyneaux admitted 14 charges of keeping, depositing and controlling unlawful waste.

Both men were sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years.

L'Derry Men Plead Guilty To Possession Of Rifle

Two men have pleaded guilty to possession of a rifle linked to dissident republicans.

26-year-old Mark Anthony Patrick Kerr and 44-year-old Anthony Michael Taylor, admitted having the semi-automatic 597 Magnum rifle.

The pleas were accepted on a basis of "second limb possession", which means that the men were holding the weapon for someone else intending to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.

Kerr, from Carrabane Walk, also pleaded guilty to possessing a length of commercial detonating cord on the same occasion and was released on continuing bail.

Taylor, from Bishop Street, was remanded back into custody after refusing bail over having to wear an electronic tag.

The two men will be sentenced next month.

(MH/JP)

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