murder detectives accused has case arrest the wrong man … · 2019-12-13 · massive-semtex-haul...

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Massive-Semtex-haulaccused has caseagainst him droppedANORTH Belfast man

accused over the larg-est seizure of Semtexin the last 10 years

has had the case against himdropped.Prosecutors said they were

withdrawing a charge thatThomas Hughes possessedexplosives with intent to en-danger life.The decision, confirmed at

Belfast Magistrates Court, fol-lows a review of all availableforensic evidence in the case.Mr Hughes (47), of Maeve

House in the New Lodge area,was arrested after police dis-covered 2.5kg of Semtex atthe apartment complex inMay.It had been cut into two

blocks and was wrapped inclingfilm and tinfoil.Latex gloves and a knife sus-

pected of having been usedto divide the explosives werealso seized.Mr Hughes, originally from

Scotland, was not in the prop-erty when police raided it.At a previous court hear-

ing his lawyer described himas coming from a republicanbackground, being a strongsupporter of the peace pro-cess and being vehementlyopposed to any dissident re-publican activity.Following confirmation of

the prosecution position yes-terday District Judge FionaBagnall ordered the chargeagainst him to be withdrawn.Mr Hughes’s solicitor Mi-

chael Madden said his clientshould never have been be-fore the courts.Mr Madden, of Madden and

Finucane solicitors, said thehearing “marks the culmina-tion of a sustained campaignof representations at remandhearings for the Public Pros-ecution Service and the PSNIto serve evidence alleged toconnect our client to the highexplosives haul”.“This was a prosecution

against Mr Hughes thatshould never have beenbrought,” he said.

“We made strenuous objec-tions both in Antrim seriouscrime suite and at our client’sfirst remand hearing as to thesufficiency and strength ofthe evidence said to properlyground this charge.“We are pleased that Mr

Hughes can now look for-ward to putting this traumat-ic experience behind himand to getting back to hisnormal life.”

n CLEARED: TommyHughes with his sonTiernan Og last nightafter charges wereagainst him weredropped. Inset, theMaeve House complexin north Belfast wherethe Semtex was found

PICTURES:Hugh Russell

Staff Reporternewsdesk@irishnews.com

McConvillemurderdetectivesarrest thewrong man

DETECTIVESinvestigating themurder of Jean

McConville are believed tohave arrested the wrongman this week, apparentlymistaking former Sinn Féincouncillor Pat Rice forveteran republican Paddy JoeRice.Pat Rice, pictured,a retired grammarschool teacher,was taken from hisPoleglass homeon Thursday andreleased a fewhours later unconditionally.Paddy Joe Rice, a closefriend of the late BrendanHughes, parted ways withthe mainstream republicanmovement and has been anoutspoken opponent of theSinn Féin political strategyand the party’s leader GerryAdams.He is also believed to havemade a tape detailing hisrepublican activities as partof the discredited BostonCollege ‘Belfast Project’.Pat Rice, through his solicitorPadraig O Muirigh, is to lodgelegal proceedings againstthe PSNI for wrongful arrestand make a complaint to thePolice Ombudsman.“It was confirmed by policeduring the course of hisinterview that the PSNIdo not have any evidence,whether forensic or witnessstatement, implicating myclient in this incident nor washe named or identified byanyone who participated inthe ‘Boston College Project’,”Mr O Muirigh said.A police spokeswomanwould only say: “If anyonehas a complaint to makeregarding police action theycan contact the office of thePolice Ombudsman.”

Allison MorrisSecurity Correspondenta.morris@irishnews.com

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