A woman arrested in connection with allegations of IRA intelligence-gathering was freed on bail yesterday after a court was told that a laptop computer found at her home bore no trace of her fingerprints.
Mother-of-two Mrs Fiona Farrelly (46), of Rosgoill Park, west Belfast, was one of four people charged in connection with police raids on six homes in the city and Sinn Féin's Stormont offices on October 4th. During a raid on her home police seized a laptop computer which contained the names, addresses and ranks of Northern Ireland prison service staff.
But the High Court in Belfast was told yesterday that Mrs Farrelly's fingerprints were not among the 11 sets discovered on the machine, which was found in a cupboard at her home.
Deleted material on the computer's hard drive included a report dated March 2002 which carried the personal details of all staff at Maghaberry, The Maze and Magilligan Prisons.
A Crown lawyer said that when arrested Mrs Farrelly said a man named Kieran, whose second name she did not know at the time, had called at her home and asked her to keep the bag in a safe place.
When she was taken to Lisburn police station, Mrs Farrelly tried to cause harm to herself by choking. When charged, she denied being a member of the Provisional IRA and had nothing to say about the items found, he added.
Mrs Farrelly appeared in court via a videolink from Maghaberry Prison. Police opposed the granting of bail on the grounds that Mrs Farrelly might attempt to warn potential suspects or destroy evidence in an effort to obstruct the ongoing investigation.
A police inspector told the court a "substantial investigation" was under way and he believed if released Mrs Farrelly might try to frustrate it. "There may be other people we would wish to speak to," he added.
However, a lawyer for Mrs Farrelly said she knew nothing of the information contained on the computer. He said she was not a member of Sinn Féin or the IRA but she had helped to distribute leaflets for Sinn Féin in the past. "Often leaflets were dropped off at her house to be collected by someone else later," he explained.
Mr Justice Sheil ruled that Mrs Farrelly be released on her own bail of £250 and two independent sureties of £250. She was also ordered to reside at her home address, to have no contact with any of the co-accused and to report once a week to a local police station. She is expected to appear in court on November 8th.