A solicitor has criticised the delay in freeing three Belfast men who spent six months in custody accused of murdering a leading loyalist, Mr Robert Dougan. The charge was withdrawn when the men appeared at the Maze remand court last Monday.
The men are Mr Samuel Baker (26), of Summerhill Drive; Mr Sean Valente (25), of Woodside View; and Mr William Grove (25), of Tullymore Gardens, all Belfast. They had been in custody since last February after Mr Dougan was shot in his shop at Dunmurry outside Belfast.
The possibility of the murder charge being dropped was referred to in Belfast High Court last week during a bail application. In the event, the men's remand appearance was brought forward to Monday, when the charge was withdrawn.
Mr Eamann McMenamin, of Madden and Finucane, solicitors, said: "From the outset we realised that there was little or no evidence to connect the accused with the murder charge. The decision to withdraw the charge was precipitated by a series of strong correspondence from Madden and Finucane . . . It was to the effect that there were no grounds for holding the men. Despite our strong indications to the DPP, it took six months to decide there was insufficient evidence to go to trial."