Man found guilty of possessing explosives

A Co Monaghan man has been found guilty by the Special Criminal Court of the possession of explosives.

A Co Monaghan man has been found guilty by the Special Criminal Court of the possession of explosives.

A second man was acquitted of the charges after the court found that the case against him was "largely circumstantial".

Joseph Fee (40), of Blackstaff, Inniskeen, Co Monaghan, was found guilty of both charges - the unlawful possession of an explosive substance, ammonium nitrate and sugar, and of having the explosive with the intent to endanger life at Thornfield, Inniskeen, Co Louth, on June 13th, 2003.

Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan said: "Viewed collectively, pieces of evidence point inexorably to the conclusion that Joseph Fee was part of a joint enterprise for the manufacture of a bomb."

Mr Justice O'Donovan told the court that there was "no foundation whatsoever" to the suggestion by defence counsel, Mr Paul Burns SC, that a bucket found in Fee's van, which contained an explosive substance, had been "planted" there by members of the gardaí after Fee had been arrested.

The combined weight of the explosives seized at the farmyard was 1100 lb., which, if detonated, could cause damage up to a distance of 500 metres.

The court was told during the trial that Fee and the other accused was arrested after a major Garda operation in north Co Louth last year.

Fee was remanded in custody until Tuesday when the court will fix a date for sentencing.