Northern Ireland

Bomb left under police officer's car was 'attempted murder', court told

Police at the scene of the attempted bomb attack in 2015 
Police at the scene of the attempted bomb attack in 2015  Police at the scene of the attempted bomb attack in 2015 

A POLICEWOMAN'S "gut instinct" may have saved her and her policeman husband from being killed by a booby-trap bomb.

In a statement read to Belfast Crown Court, the now retired policewoman told of her "sheer disbelief" on seeing a "skinny man" attaching a new type of improvised explosive to her husband's car in Derry.

She said she was "so shocked" she rapped hard on the bedroom window of her bunglow in the Eglinton area of Derry and "bruised" her knuckles. 

The would-be bomber, her statement added, "must have croaked himself" because he immediately "legged it ... took to his heels" down the driveway and into a waiting car.

On trial accused of attempting to murder police on June 18, 2015, and possession, of an under vehicle improvised explosive device with intent, is 37-year-old Sean McVeigh from Victoria Street, Lurgan.

McVeigh, initially picked up by members of the Garda Regional Support Unit in Co Donegal a short time after the alarm was raised, was finally arrested by the PSNI on a Lurgan bound train almost a year later in May 2016.

Judge Stephen Fowler QC, sitting alone in the Diplock type non-jury trial, heard that save for giving his name and date of birth, as he did when first interviewed by gardaí, McVeigh refused to answer any further questions put to him by PSNI officers.

A prosecution QC also told the court that traces of RDX explosives were allegedly found on McVeigh's jacket and trousers. 

He further claimed that CCTV footage taken from the police couples' bunglow, of the jacket worn by the would-be bomber, provided a strong match as to the make and model of the jacket taken from McVeigh.

However, the lawyer said he wanted "to make it clear, although the court might very well come to the conclusiion that McVeigh was the person who planted the device on the underside of the policeman's car, the prosecution case is simply that he was one of a number of people who were involved in the joint enterprise to plant the device.

"There is no need to ascribe his particular role," he added.

The prosecution lawyer also reveled that after ATO made safe the device, contained within a box heavily covered in black tape, it turned out to be the first of its kind as an undercar booby trap.

He said while it incorporated the usual mercury tilt switch, "it was unusual in that it had a copper cone incorporated in it".

Counsel explained that normally such components were often found in mortar or propelled grenades.

This was designed that, "on detonation it is deformed by the blast into a 'slug' or rod shaped projectile", and in a field test conducted on a similar model of car as that of the policeman, it "showed that anyone sitting on the driving seat would have sustained serious and possibly fatal injuries".

The Belfast court also heard that after the alarm was raised, police tasked to go to the house "encountered" two vehicles travelling at speed towards Derry. 

Picked up on various CCTV installations, and by ANPR (automatic number plate recording), they were identified as a VW Passat and a Toyota Corolla, both with  Republic of Ireland plates.

Both vehicles, which had been stolen, and bore false plates, were traced travelling over the border into Donegal, after driving through a checkpoint which had been set up on the Foyle Bridge.

They drove to Lifford, where the Toyota was abandoned in a carpark, with the driver getting into the Passat.

As the VW drove towards Ballybofey, it was spotted by the alerted specialist Garda unit who gave chase, stopping the car by blocking its path about a mile outside the village of Killygordon.

Along with the driver, and a rear seat passenger, McVeigh was found sitting in the front passenger seat.

In a follow-up search of the route taken by the VW, Garda found three pairs of Tesco Marigold type gloves, later found to have traces of explosives residue.  

In addition RDX was also allegedly found on McVeigh's black outer jacket and tracksuit bottoms. 

Further traces of RDX were also found on swabs taken from the front seat of the VW car, the interior door handles and from the rear seat.

Similar explosive traces were found on the Toyota car located six days later in the carpak where it had been left that night. 

The trial, expected to last up to three weeks, continues tomorrow.