SIX men involved in a highly sophisticated IRA plot to bomb electricity sub- stations and cripple power supplies to much of London and south-east England were jailed for a total of 210 years by an Old Bailey judge yesterday.
Mr Justice Scott Baker jailed each member of the unit, which included senior IRA officers and middle-ranking volunteers for 35 years.
He said: "Those who seek to advance a political argument by terrorism can expect no mercy in the courts of this land. You set out to destabilise the community by wrecking the electricity supplies to the south-east of England."
The unit's leader, Gerard Hanratty (38); former US Marine John Crawley (39); Robert Morrow (37); Patrick Martin (35); Francis Rafferty (45); and Donald Gannon (34) were found guilty of conspiring to cause explosions last summer.
Earlier Mr Martin Murphy (36), the gang's alleged courier and a self- confessed member of the IRA, was cleared of the charge. He was later detained and questioned under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Businessman Mr Clive Brampton (36), who denied IRA membership and had told the jury he was forced into helping the unit, unaware of its aim, was also found not guilty.
The jury of six men and six women took 12 hours and four minutes to reach its verdicts at the end of a 56-day trial. The men said nothing as they were led away but waved to the jury and smiled.
The judge praised the security forces for their role in foiling the plot.
He told the men: "You did not succeed in your conspiracy because, fortunately for the inhabitants of south-east England, the security forces were one jump ahead of you. They deserve gratitude for the skill and professionalism of their work."
Turning to Hanratty, who the court heard was the gang's leader and had previous convictions for firearms offences, the judge said all shared equal responsibility for the plot.
"Hanratty, the evidence I have heard suggests you may hold a senior position in the IRA but I do not think I should differentiate between you and the others," the judge said.
"I think you all hear equal responsibility for this conspiracy."
Sources disclosed that Mr Martin Murphy was later detained and questioned under the Prevention of Terrorism Act following his acquittal.
A Scotland Yard spokesman who refused to confirm the man's identity. said: "There was an arrest in central London in relation to alleged serious terrorist offences in mainland Britain in the last few years.
Earlier Mr Justice Scott Baker made a forfeiture order in relation to all maps, toots and equipment, vehicles and false or stolen documents involved in the case.
Before sentencing the judge was told of the previous convictions relating to some of the men standing in the dock surrounded by police officers.
Mr Nigel Sweeney, prosecuting, said that in 1984 John Crawley pleaded guilty at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin to three offences possessing explosives, possessing firearms and ammunition with intent to enable others to endanger life and possessing firearms with intent to endanger life himself. He was sentenced to 10 years.
Mr Sweeney said the charges arose out of his arrest on board the trawler Marita Ann, together with four others, off the coast of Kerry.
The trawler had travelled from the US and contained 71/2 tonnes of firearms and explosives.
In 1985 Crawley appeared at the same court and pleaded guilty to attempting to escape from Portlaoise Prison with 11 others.
Mr Sweeney told the court that the prisoners held a prison officer and a Garda officer hostage. They intended to break out of the prison by placing an explosive device against the main gate, but it failed to detonate and in due course they gave themselves up within the prison.
Crawley was sentenced to three years, running consecutively to his previous sentence, and was finally released in 1994.
Turning to Hanratty, counsel told the court that he had also received sentences for firearm offences, including a prison term in Germany.
Defence lawyers urged the judge to bear in mind that the defendants' target was "economic" and that there were no homes nearby.