Judge says applicants for anonymity must prove death threats

A judge in Derry has ruled the onus is on people charged with drugs offences to prove to the courts there was a specific death threat against them if they wanted to be granted anonymity.

Judge Philip Babington made the comment during an application by a man and a woman whose barristers argued that already imposed anonymity orders in their case should be continued.

The two co-defendants are among 19 people facing charges following seizures of cocaine and cannabis valued at up to £2.5 million. The drugs were found in six locations in Northern Ireland, including Derry, on various dates between September 2013 and August 2014.

Barristers for the two defendants told Judge Babington two of the 19 have already been shot by paramilitary gunmen and a third defendant has had his car destroyed in an arson attack.

The barristers said one of the reasons why their clients had not been attacked was because they were currently under anonymity in terms of either their names or addresses being made public and they wanted the orders to continue.

A PSNI detective told the court that while there was no information or intelligence in relation to a specific threat against the two defendants, there was a generalised threat in the Derry area against people accused of drugs offences from paramilitary organisations.

Judge Babington said he would rule on the anonymity applications within the next 10 days and he released the defendants on continuing bail.