A round-up of other court stories in brief...
Man remanded over murder information
A 21-year-old man was remanded in custody yesterday on a charge of withholding information about the Continuity IRA murder of PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll.
The man, who appeared at Lisburn Magistrates Court yesterday, was remanded to appear at Craigavon Crown Court on April 17th.
There was no application for bail.
A court order was issued preventing the defendant’s name or any further details of proceedings being published.
A 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named because he is a juvenile, and former Sinn Féin councillor Brendan McConville (37) from Lurgan, Co Armagh have been charged with the murder of Constable Carroll.
Lurgan republican Colin Duffy, who was rearrested after being briefly released by court order on Wednesday, remained in custody at Antrim PSNI station last night.
He is being questioned in connection with the murders of the two soldiers in Antrim.
McKevitt fails to secure appeal
Michael McKevitt has failed to secure a fresh hearing of his appeal against his conviction for organising terrorist activities for the Real IRA.
He had made the Supreme Court attempt on grounds of an admitted factual error in last year’s decision by the same court refusing the appeal.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray, said yesterday the five-judge court considered McKevitt’s application “unmeritorious and opportunistic”.
In July 2008, the Supreme Court had dismissed the appeal by McKevitt (54), Beech Park, Blackrock, Co Louth, against his 2003 conviction and 20-year prison sentence. McKevitt had appealed on over 30 grounds.
Moortown Construction
Moortown Construction (Ireland) Ltd and Moortown Construction Ltd.
In an article in last Tuesday’s edition, concerning an action taken by the film director Jim Sheridan and his wife Fran, it was stated that Gilmac Building Services Ltd “was engaged by either or both of the Moortown companies as a sub-contractor to lay the Caltite system, allegedly supplied by Cementaid”. In fact, the Moortown companies were engaged by Gilmac Building Services Ltd.
Drug addict jailed for robbery
A drug addict who was jailed last April for a vicious assault on a Norwegian tourist which left him with severe head injuries has been jailed for three years for another violent robbery of a middle-aged man.
Christopher Burgess (20) with an address at Templeview Avenue, Clare Hall, received a seven-year sentence last year from Judge Katherine Delahunt after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Andreas Nagelsett (35) causing him serious harm at Great Strand Street on March 4th, 2007.
Judge Delahunt sentenced Burgess to a concurrent three-year jail term after he admitted to “booting” Patrick Gates (51) in the head before his accomplices stole the man’s mobile phone. He also received a concurrent two- year sentence for an attempted robbery the following month.
Burgess pleaded guilty to assault causing Mr Gates harm and to robbery in Summerhill, Dublin, on December 12th, 2006 and to an attempted robbery at Millennium Walk on January 8th, 2007.