Man accused of attempting to murder PSNI officer by placing bomb under car is refused bail

A man accused of attempting to murder a PSNI officer by placing a bomb under his car almost 10 years ago has been refused bail.

Ciaran Maguire (37) has been in custody for over three-and-a-half years on charges arising from an incident in Eglinton in June 2015.

From Kippure Park in the Finglas area of Dublin, he was charged with attempting to murder a member of the PSNI and possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.

Both charges arise from an early morning incident in the Co Derry village when the wife of a serving police officer disturbed an attempt to place a bomb under her husband’s car.

Maguire was one of three men arrested in the aftermath.

In March 2017 extradition proceedings started and five months later, whilst on bail pending extradition, Maguire was arrested for IRA membership and was subsequently convicted and sentenced in May 2018.

In March 2019 Sean McVeigh was jailed for 25 years after being found guilty of planting the bomb under the police officer’s car.

Maguire and co-accused Sean Farrell were both extradited and are currently on trial at Belfast Crown Court having denied both charges.

It is the trial process – which has been beset by legal issues and delays – that was the basis for the application to release Maguire on bail.

Raising both the issues of “significant delays” and the amount of time Maguire has spend on remand, his solicitor Michael Brentnall told Mr Justice Rooney that despite commencing last February, the trial has not yet concluded.

It was scheduled to recommence last month but like many other Crown Court cases was delayed due to the ongoing barristers strike.

Pointing out Maguire was approaching four years on remand, Mr Brentnall spoke of “grave concerns”.

Objecting to Maguire’s bid for bail, a Crown barrister cited concerns that if released, there was a risk he would commit further offences and abscond.

The prosecutor said the “yardstick” for the risk of flight concerns was that co-accused Sean McVeigh was found guilty of the same charges and had a lengthy sentence imposed.

Saying it was the Crown’s case that “there was no difference” in the roles of Maguire and McVeigh, the prosecutor said that if convicted Maguire faced a similar sentence and that there was “every incentive to abscond”.

Addressing concerns of re-offending, the Crown barrister said that Maguire’s conviction for IRA membership, together with the charges he is currently on trial for, indicated he was “an established member of a dissident organisation”.

Mr Justice Rooney refused the application.

“I remain concerned that there is a real risk that the applicant will commit further offences if released,” he said.

“That concern is based upon the fact that whilst on extradition bail in the Republic of Ireland in 2017, he committed further offences which ultimately resulted in his arrest and conviction in 2018.

“Accordingly, there is a risk of the potential commission of further serious offences, and it is difficult to see how bail conditions could be imposed which would effectively mitigate or obviate such a risk.”