42-Year-Old Jailed For Possession Of Explosives

A 42-year-old man sentenced to 3 yeas for possession of explosives at Laganside Crown Court, following an investigation by the Police Service's Terrorism Investigation Unit (TIU).

Patrick McCann was sentenced yesterday, Wednesday 10th January, for four counts of possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances and had entered an earlier guilty plea to the charges.

Welcoming the verdict, Detective Superintendent Griffin from the Terrorism Investigation Unit said: "On Sunday, 29th September 2019 detectives carried out a planned search of a property in the west Belfast area.

"A number of items were seized as a result of the search, including component parts used to modify explosives, specifically pipe bombs.

"McCann was arrested and later linked to the items recovered following forensic examination and was charged to court in May 2020.

"He was subsequently handed down a three year custodial sentence in court today and has been ordered to serve two years in custody and the remaining one year on licence.

"He will also be subject to terrorist notification requirements once released from custody for a period of 10 years.

"We are thankful that these components, along with other items, have been removed from our streets.

"Officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Terrorism Investigation Unit remain committed to tackling issues of serious crime in our community and I would encourage anyone with information that could assist in our efforts to contact us on the non-emergency number 101."

You can also submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/

You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org/