A 20-year-old woman accused of involvement in a bomb-making factory in the border home she shared with her boyfriend walked free yesterday after being acquitted of all charges.
But while Orla O'Hanlon was freed, her 21-year-old partner Keith McConnan was remanded back into custody after being convicted on two counts.
Her solicitor said after court: "It was a difficult case and a very difficult time for Ms O'Hanlon who maintained her innocence from the outset.
"She is glad to finally put this case behind her and looks forward to moving on with her life."
Ms O'Hanlon and McConnan were arrested on December 18 2013 after their rented bungalow on the Tievecrom Road, Forkhill was searched by police.
Items found included an industrial grinder, a complete Timer Power Unit and a crushed ammonium nitrate fertiliser which prosecutors claimed could be used to make bombs.
They were charged with a catalogue of offences and stood trial late last year at Belfast Crown Court.
Judge Sandra Crawford, who presided over the 'Diplock' non-jury trial, delivered her judgment yesterday.
She acquitted Ms O'Hanlon on all 10 charges she faced, while McConnan - who originally faced nine counts - was found guilty of two offences.
McConnan (21), originally from Kilcurry in Dundalk, admitted possessing the grinder but claimed he was acting under duress as he was under threat from a dissident republican linked to the Omagh bombing.
The former Dundalk Grammar School pupil gave evidence that he was asked by a man he named only as 'Mr X' - but named by prosecutors as Dundalk man Oliver Traynor - to buy a grinder and agreed out of fear that a threat to shoot his brother would be carried out.
He said he was also given a black bin liner containing a substance he knew to be fertiliser but deliberately sabotaged efforts to make a bomb, damaging the grinder and adding oats to the mix.
McConnan also said he had never requested to join republican inmates in Maghaberry jail while on remand.
The trial also heard that during the search of the bungalow, officers found a plastic bag in a wardrobe in the couple's bedroom.
It contained items including an improvised mobile phone-operated switch unit and portable power supply, as well as a reloaded cartridge.
It was the Crown's case that these items, along with the presence of the industrial grinder, suggested that the couple were engaging in illegal activity linked to the preparation of bombs.
McConnan admitted touching the bag and placing it in the wardrobe, but denied any knowledge of its contents.
Charges of making and possessing explosives with intent to endanger life were dropped against the couple at the end of their trial.
However, they still faced charges of making and possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances, preparation of terrorist acts by possessing items to construct an explosive device, and possessing articles for use in terrorism.
Finding McConnan guilty of two charges of possessing items in suspicious circumstances in relation to the bag, Judge Crawford said it was "inconceivable and wholly implausible" that he didn't know what was inside.
However, the judge told Ms O'Hanlon - from Church Road in Forkhill - she was free to go.
The 20-year-old, who had declined to give evidence in the trial, admitted knowing about the presence of the grinder but her lawyer said there was no evidence to suggest she was present when the fertiliser was ground up.
Before McConnan was returned back to custody, his barrister asked that he be released on bail pending sentencing next month.
He said McConnan has been on remand since his arrest and has already served over two years in custody.
Judge Crawford said she would hear a full bail application later this week.
