Newcastle man on pipe bomb charge

Newcastle man on pipe bomb charge

5 February 2014

A NEWCASTLE man has been remanded in custody charged with possession of explosives.

Thirty eight year-old Sean Ruddy appeared at Lisburn Magistrate’s Court on Monday charged with having a pipe bomb and the component parts for pipe bombs on January 31.

Ruddy, of Burren Meadow, was charged alongside Dunmurry man Sean Megaw (25), of Mount Eagles Square. Both men refused to stand in the dock of the court when the single charge was put to them.

A detective constable told the court she believed she could connect them to the charge and that police were objecting to bail amid fears that they would re-offend.

“We cannot rule out at this stage that they are part of a dissident [republican] organisation and were on active duty when arrested,” said the officer.

She told the court that at around 9.30pm last Friday, police saw a Nissan Qashqai car drive into and park in White Rise in Dunmurry, adding that while police were speaking to Megaw at the car, they saw Ruddy coming from a property.

“He was asked to stop but seemed startled and ran,” she said.

Officers saw Ruddy “take a black bag from his coat and throw it over the hedge” where it made a “metallic sound”.

Ruddy was stopped a short distance away and allegedly told police “that there was a pipe bomb in the car.”

Although a search of the Nissan car was negative, a “viable pipe bomb device” was found around seven feet from the vehicle and the officer contended that while officers were talking to Ruddy, Megaw threw the bomb away.

Inside the bag allegedly discarded by Ruddy, officers uncovered “four pipes of various lengths, engineered component parts for pipe bombs,” claimed the officer, adding that police were also objecting to bail “to protect the public”.

The police officer agreed with a defence claim that neither man had been questioned about membership of any dissident republican organisation and that at the moment, there is no forensic evidence linking the men to the items although she added that the bomb and component parts were being sent for tests today.

Ruddy’s solicitor said he “completely refutes” making any admissions to police at the scene while Megaw’s solicitor submitted that he had been given a lift from Ruddy who owned the car and knew nothing of explosive devices.

Refusing the bail applications and remanding the men into custody to appear again via videolink on March 3, District Judge Rosemary Watters said she was “concerned about the commission of further offences”.

As the pair were lead to the prison van outside the court, Ruddy waved and blew kisses to his relatives.