TWO MEN appeared in court yesterday charged with attempted murder of a young Catholic PSNI officer in Garrison, Co Fermanagh, last Saturday.
Gerard James McManus (26), Fern Hill in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, and Kevin Barry Nolan (32), Main Street, Blacklion, in Co Cavan, appeared in court in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, charged with the attempted murder of the student police officer.
Mr McManus, a former member of the Irish Army Reserve Defence Forces, and Mr Nolan, who stood in council elections in Co Fermanagh as an Independent republican five years ago, were both remanded in custody.
They were also charged with possession of a gun with intent while Mr McManus was also charged with using a firearm to resist arrest.
Further details of the incident during which police said three shots were fired were disclosed during the court hearing. A PSNI detective sergeant said he could connect the men with all charges.
Mr McManus’s solicitor Peter Corrigan said his client had not shot at any of the officers involved in the incident. He asked the police witness whether Mr McManus had only fired when fired upon by the police. “Whilst he was leaving the scene, shots were fired at him and then he fired away from the undercover police officers,” said Mr Corrigan.
The detective said that was the account Mr McManus gave when questioned by police.