POLICE who arrested a Larne-born Royal Marine about two republican arms dumps in Co Antrim have been given an extra five days to question him.
Ciarán Maxwell (30) was detained by police in Somerset on Wednesday on suspicion of preparing for acts of terrorism.
Westminster Magistrates' Court today (Friday) granted the Metropolitan Police a warrant to hold him for a further five days.
He can now be held in custody until 12:20pm on Wednesday August 31.
Mr Maxwell is being held at a London police station.
Police swooped on homes belonging to his relatives in the Old Glenarm Road area of Larne within hours of the arrest on Wednesday.
Items including documents and computer parts were taken away for examination.
After his arrest Scotland Yard said a house in South Devon and a wooded area were being searched. Searches in Devon were continuing yesterday.
The father-of-one's arrest is understood to be connected to the discovery of two arms dumps, thought to be linked to dissident republicans, in east Antrim earlier this year.
An armour piercing Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP) mortar, two anti-personnel mines, pipe bombs, explosives and ammunition were among the haul found at Capanagh Forest in May.
A day after the find a device was discovered close to the village of Cushendun.
In March bomb-making equipment and explosives were discovered at nearby Carnfunnock Country Park in Larne.
As a 16-year-old Mr Maxwell was beaten by a gang of loyalists wielding golf clubs and iron bars. He suffered head and facial injuries including a compound fracture to the skull in the attack.
It was later claimed that a British army patrol which arrived at the scene failed to intervene before driving off.
At the time his mother Teresa and stepfather Brendan told An Phoblact/Republican News, a paper linked to Sinn Féin, they were angry that Catholics in Larne were under threat and no action was being taken.
