It emerged last night that a man killed in a car crash outside Dundalk on Monday night was acquitted of involvement in the IRA bomb that rocked Canary Wharf in London in February 1996. Security sources confirmed that Mr Patrick McKinley (38) from Mullaghbawn, Newry, Co Down, who died in the crash was found not guilty at the Old Bailey two years ago.
At the trial in January 1998, he was charged with conspiring to cause the explosion on February 9th, 1996, at Canary Wharf, in which two people were killed. It was alleged that Mr McKinley had converted a cargo lorry to carry the bomb but the judge directed that he be acquitted.
Mr McKinley had been travelling on the Dundalk to Armagh road when his car collided with a tractor at Carrickedmond, Kilcurry. The vehicle ploughed into a tree.