49-year-old appears in court charged with attempting to bomb Derry Court

A 49-year-old man has appeared in court charged with possession of a 100lb bomb.
Derry Magistrates Court was told that DNA linked Eamon Terence Cassidy, with an address at Maghaberry Prison, to the device.
The bomb was left in a beer keg inside a car found abandoned in Bishop Street car park – across the road from the courthouse – in March 2011.
Mr Cassidy was remanded in custody until next month.
The defendant was charged with possessing explosive substances, including ammonium-nitrate-based fertiliser and sugar, as well as other explosive substances, with intent to endanger life or damage property.
A prosecution barrister said that on 27 March last year a worker at a residential home in Bishop Street received a phone call to say that a bomb had been left near the courthouse.
Other telephone warnings were made to a dispatcher in a taxi office, and a local parochial house.
The caller said he represented a paramilitary organisation which he refused to name, but gave a recognised code word.
The barrister said the police found a green Vauxhall Astra car in Bishop Street car park with a beer keg inside pointing in the direction of the courthouse.
The car had earlier been stolen in the Glengalliagh (GLEN – GALL – YA) area of Derry.
The barrister said a sniffer dog indicated the presence of explosives and the bomb was defused following a controlled explosion.
The defendant was subsequently linked to the charge through DNA investigations.
Mr Cassidy was remanded in custody pending a further court hearing on 8 March.

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