Eight men accused of a £1 million cigarette-smuggling operation have been acquitted by a Belfast jury after their seventh trial. Legal fees for the previous six trials have been conservatively estimated at over £2 million.
The eight men, two from Dublin and six from Belfast, were formally cleared this week when Mr Justice Kerr ordered the jury to acquit them of robbery and false imprisonment.
Three trials were aborted for legal reasons and one for jury intimidation. The other two returned hung verdicts after eight weeks of evidence.
The eight men were arrested by armed police at Holmes Distribution Centre on Boucher Road in west Belfast on February 12th, 1996.
They are: Mr Desmond Christie (32), of Rathoath Drive, and Mr Derek Sweetman (38), of Dingle Road, Cabra, both in Dublin; Mr Chris Moran (39), of Rock Grove; Mr Seamus Hawkins (53), of Summerhill Gardens; Mr Bernard McElkerney (39), of Ross Street; Mr Michael Russell (25), of the Falls Road; Mr Martin Devlin (31), from Norglen Road; and Mr Kevin McCaffrey (32), of Riverdale Park South, all in Belfast.