Strabane man in court charged with Doneyloop murder

A Strabane man appeared before Dublin’s Special Criminal Court charged with murdering a man in Donegal two years ago.
36-year-old Martin Kelly of Barrack Street, Strabane, was charged with the murder of  27-year-old Andrew Burns at Doneyloop, Castlefin on February 12th, 2008.
Mr Burns was found with gunshot wounds outside a church, by teenagers attending a nearby youth club.
Martin Kelly was charged before the three-judge non-jury court in March of this year with the unlawful possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, in connection with the same incident.
He appeared before the Special Criminal Court today, dressed in a white shirt and dark grey trousers.
Letterkenny Detective Garda Adrian Ahern, gave the court, details of arrest, charge and caution. The court heard that when the charge of murder was put to the accused, Mr Kelly replied “no comment”.
The chief investigating officer in the case, Superintendent Kevin English also gave evidence during the brief hearing.
He said the inquiry into Mr Burns’ murder was “complex” with “territorial” issues.
Superintendent English said the investigation had a strong “cross-border dimension” and involved the “extensive analysis” of phone records and over 600 vehicle checks and 300 witness statements.
Mr Kelly was remanded in custody to appear before the court again on July the 20th.

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