1981 John Proctor murder case based on cigarette DNA

DNA on a cigarette discarded at the scene of a policeman's death 29 years ago led to a man being charged with murder, a court has heard. RUC reserve constable John Proctor, 25, was shot dead in Magherafelt in September 1981. Seamus Martin Kearney, 54, of Gorteade Road, Swatragh, was arrested on Monday. A policeman told the court his DNA sample matched one on the cigarette. Mr Kearney, who denies the charge, was granted bail. Mr Proctor had just visited his wife and new son in the Mid-Ulster Hospital in Magherafelt, when he was shot dead in the car park. ...

A Lurgan republican accused of the Real IRA murder of two soldiers is claiming he was subjected to sexual and physical abuse during a prison strip-search.

Colin Duffy, 42, has been in custody since March of last year when Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were shot dead outside Massereene barracks.
His claims have meant the preliminary investigation into the murders - due to restart has been delayed again.
...

Thirty-eight prisoners have escaped from a high-security jail in Northern Ireland. One prison officer has been killed and another seriously injured during the mass break-out of Republican inmates from the Maze jail near Lisburn. Ten of the prisoners - who were all from Block H7 - were recaptured in the first few hours, but the remainder are still on the run. Security forces mounted the biggest search operation Northern Ireland has ever seen within minutes of the escape. ...

The Real IRA has said it will resume attacks on the UK mainland - with banks and bankers its principal targets.

Vowing to alternate between "military, political and economic targets", the republican terror group has said that bankers are "criminals" and their role in funding Britain's colonial and capitalist system "has not gone unnoticed".

Responding to questions from The Guardian, a spokesman for the Real IRA said: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions.
...

The Queen has led the nation in mourning as the body of her husband's uncle, Lord Mountbatten, was buried after a day of pageantry in London. The earl - who was murdered nine days ago by the IRA during a fishing trip in County Sligo - had planned much of the funeral himself. Members of Britain's armed forces were joined by representatives of Burma, India, the United States, France and Canada in escorting the naval gun carriage carrying his body. The procession from Wellington barracks, near Buckingham Palace, to Westminster Abbey was accompanied by the sound of bells and the solemn brass of Royal Marine bands. ...

At least 18 soldiers have been killed in two booby-trap bomb attacks at Warrenpoint, South Down, close to the border with the Irish Republic. It is the highest death toll suffered by the British Army in a single incident since it arrived in Northern Ireland to restore order a decade ago. The IRA are believed to be behind the attack. It came only hours after the Queen's cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, was killed in an IRA bomb attack in Donegal Bay in the Irish Republic. ...

Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman is due to publish his report into the alleged involvement of a priest in a 1972 IRA bombing in County Londonderry.

Nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, were killed in the village of Claudy in one of the most controversial incidents of the Troubles.

There was an alleged deal between the UK government and the Catholic Church not to arrest Father James Chesney.
Fr Chesney was moved across the Irish border by the Church after the attack.
The priest, who died in 1980, had been the curate in Cullion, a small parish in County Londonderry.

No-one convicted The Bishop of Derry, Neil Farren, responding to rumours that Fr Chesney was a member of the South Derry Brigade of ...

At least 27 people are feared dead in the worst paramilitary bombing since the start of the Northern Ireland conflict three decades ago. The blast in the market town of Omagh, County Tyrone, at around 1500 BST on Saturday, left more than 100 people injured or maimed. People who survived the car bomb blast in a busy shopping area of the town have been describing scenes of carnage with the dead and dying strewn across the street. Police received a telephone warning approximately 40 minutes before the...

A booby-trap bomb has been discovered under the car of a civilian security worker in Cookstown, County Tyrone. It is believed the device partially exploded as the man drove away from his home in the Sweep Road area of the town. He was not injured in the attack. The man is a former police officer who currently works as a guard at the town's PSNI station. PSNI Chief Supt Skuce said those who planted the bomb had "scant regard" for human life. ...

A retired Scottish judge has agreed to conduct an independent review into an RAF Chinook helicopter crash on the Mull of Kintyre. BBC Scotland has learned that Lord Philip is expected to lead the inquiry into the 1994 accident which killed all 29 people on board. The RAF found the two pilots guilty of gross negligence for flying too fast and too low in thick fog. The pilots' families have campaigned to have the ruling overturned. The Chinook Mark 2 helicopter crashed on 2 June 1994 en route from Northern Ireland to Inverness in the worst RAF helicopter accident in peacetime. ...

Terrorist jailed for soldier's murder.

Declan Duffy, 36, has been jailed for the murder of Sergeant Michael Newman in 1992 An Irish republican terrorist has been jailed for life after he admitted the murder of a British soldier outside an Army recruitment office 18 years ago. Sergeant Michael Newman, 34, was gunned down by the Irish National Liberation Army, an IRA splinter group, in Derby city centre on April 14, 1992. ...

Eight soldiers on ceremonial duty have been killed in two IRA bomb blasts in central London. The first blast, in Hyde Park, killed two soldiers and injured 23 others and the second explosion, in Regents Park, less than two hours later killed six soldiers instantly and injured a further 24 people.
The IRA admitted carrying out the attacks in a statement echoing Margaret Thatcher's declaration of war on Argentina over the disputed Falklands.
...

Lance Corporal Matthew Wilson is learning to fly just a year after losing his leg in Afghanistan. The 24-year-old, who now lives in Much Birch, is almost fully on his feet after 12 months of rehabilitation. But his progress reached new heights this month when he was awarded a scholarship to fly a light aircraft. L/Cpl Wilson spotted the Flying Scholarship for the Disabled offer while recovering at Headley Court Hospital in Surrey. The scheme was run in conjunction with Help for Heroes and Bat...

Police say a bomb that exploded on a country road in south Armagh was designed to kill or injure officers. A device exploded at about 1730 BST on Saturday between Belleek and Cullyhanna, blowing a crater in the road and damaging a stone bridge. No-one was hurt in the incident, which politicians are blaming on dissident republicans. Chief Superintendent Alisdair Robinson said police were treating the blast "extremely seriously". They have launched a major investigation and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward. 'Callous disregard' ...

A group of Muslim women have laid a wreath at the National Memorial Arboretum in honour of those who died fighting for the UK in Afghanistan. L/Cpl Jabron Hashmi, 24, from Bordesley Green, Birmingham, was the first British Muslim soldier to die in a Taliban attack in Helmand in July 2006. On the anniversary weekend of his death four Muslim women paid their respects at the Staffordshire centre. The ceremony was organised by the Muslim Armed Forces Association. It said 500 Muslims were currently serving in the British armed forces. ...