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Retired army general says vetting will be tightened after Ciarán Maxwell conviction

Retired British Army general Tim Cross said he believes vetting procedures will be tightened following the conviction of Ciarán Maxwell. Picture from YouTube
Retired British Army general Tim Cross said he believes vetting procedures will be tightened following the conviction of Ciarán Maxwell. Picture from YouTube Retired British Army general Tim Cross said he believes vetting procedures will be tightened following the conviction of Ciarán Maxwell. Picture from YouTube

A RETIRED British Army general has said he believes vetting procedures will be strengthened and tightened following the conviction of a Royal Marine who had stored explosives to be used in a dissident republican attack.

Ciarán Maxwell (31) pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London on Friday to preparing for a terror attack by stashing explosives in purpose-built caches in England and Northern Ireland.

Maxwell, originally from Larne in Co Antrim, pleaded guilty to three charges, including the preparation of terrorist acts between January 2011 and August 2016.

Major General Tim Cross, who served in Northern Ireland, told the BBC: "Whatever system you put in place, if somebody's determined to work around it, through it, or above it, they will normally do so, there's always examples of people who work their way through the system.

"We're talking about human beings who make mistakes. There may well have been opportunities to see what this guy was doing - looks like he's been quite clever in the way he's done it, he's done it over a period of time.

"There'll definitely be an inquiry, systems will be looked at and challenged and things will be tightened and hardened up, I don't think there's any doubt about that."

Major Cross added: "The reality of getting this stuff in and out of an armoury, that is a seriously important process, normally ridden with checks and something clearly went wrong in this case."

The retired general said that he believed security questions were not as rigorous as before due to "political correctness".

Ulster Unionist East Antrim politician Roy Beggs said questions remain as to how such military grade weapons were transported from Somerset into Northern Ireland.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: "We are aware that a member of the armed forces has pleaded guilty to terrorism offences and we will consider the implications very carefully.

"We will continue to fully co-operate with legal proceedings and, with these ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

The court was told that Maxwell had maps, plans and lists of potential targets for a terrorist attack and images of an adapted PSNI pass card and a PSNI uniform.

Maxwell was also charged with possessing images of bank cards for fraud and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

He was remanded into custody to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.