A dissident republican at the centre of an alleged IRA kidnap plot walked out of court a free man today after charges against him were dropped.
Mr Bobby Tohill (46) from Bombay Street, West Belfast, said the charges were false from the beginning and added: "I believe it was a frame-up by the police because I refused to make a complaint against the four men charged with my alleged kidnapping."
Mr Tohill was speaking outside Belfast Magistrates Court after the prosecution withdrew three charges without explanation .
The charges were threatening to kill Patrick Ward at his home in Divis Tower last March, possession of a gun or imitation firearm and going into Mr Ward's home with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
At a hearing last May Mr Tohill's solicitor said Mr Ward had sworn two affidavits retracting previous statements made to police.
The following month he was released on bail in the High Court.
Mr Tohill said today that he refused to make a complaint against the four men because they were totally innocent.
"The police stitched me up on that basis so I am relieved that the truth has come out," he said. "I am relieved that I am now a free man"
Mr Tohill also alleged another reason for charging him was his refusal to co-operate with the Independent Monitoring Commission, which backed Chief Constable Hugh Order's claim that the IRA planned and carried out the operation that led to him being dragged from a city centre bar last February.
"I refused to co-operate with the IMC because the men did not kidnap me at all," he said.
During a failed High Court bail application by one of the four it was claimed that the incident involving Mr Tohill was a domestic matter and was not terrorist-related.
The four defendants are due to be sent for trial next month but Mr Tohill said: "They are innocent and I hope they get out very shortly."