Dissident republican terrorists exploited security lapses at an army base in Northern Ireland to shoot dead two defenceless British soldiers, the trial of a man accused of the murders has heard.
Three separate pieces of DNA evidence link defendant Brian Shivers (47), to the car used in the attack that killed sappers Mark Quinsey (23), and Patrick Azimkar (21), and seriously injured four others outside Massereene barracks in Antrim four years ago, a prosecution lawyer told Belfast Crown Court.
After grainy CCTV footage of the March 2009 shooting was shown to court, Terence Mooney QC said the likelihood of three genetic matches being found in the abandoned partially burnt-out vehicle - from matchsticks and a mobile phone - being a chance occurrence was “so unlikely that it may be discounted”.
Opening the Crown case, Mr Mooney told judge Mr Justice Donnell Deeny that physically connecting Shivers, from Sperrin Mews, Magherafelt, Co Derry, to the attack car was enough to prove he was part of a well-planned plot to kill members of the security forces.
The lawyer insisted knowledge that a potentially-deadly criminal act was to be committed was sufficient to prosecute him for the murders.
He argued that the terrorists would not entrust a random, unwitting acquaintance with involvement with or destroying the attack car.
“Such an important role would not be left to chance,” said Mr Mooney.
The lawyer claimed evidence presented to the trial would demonstrate Shivers’ “willing involvement in the attack”.
Shivers also faces six counts of attempted murder and one of possession of two firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life in relation to the attack, which was claimed by the Real IRA.
Sappers Quinsey, from Birmingham, and Azimkar, from London, were shot as they collected pizza outside the gates of the barracks.
The soldiers from 38 Engineer Regiment were just hours away from deploying to Afghanistan and already dressed in desert fatigues.
Two other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were seriously injured when two masked men emerged from the Vauxhall attack car and opened fire with AK assault rifles, discharging 65 rounds in a sustained onslaught.
“Chillingly the gunmen moved in to shoot some of the victims as they lay on the ground undoubtedly to ensure that the victims were dispatched,” Mr Mooney told the court.
The lawyer said a “disorganised and ad hoc” system had developed at the base where soldiers would order pizzas on the phone from a local fast food outlet in Antrim.
“There were flaws in this system,” he added.
He said the soldiers had to exit the base, often in uniform but carrying no personal protection, to pay delivery drivers at the gates - an exchange that could often be prolonged by disputes over the orders.
“The system exposed soldiers at the main gates for some time,” he said. “At the time of these offences security at the camp had become relaxed.”
Mr Mooney said the practice rendered soldiers “vulnerable”.
He said the attack would have been long in the planning and would have required surveillance of the gates.
The lawyer said terrorists had planned to “exploit lapses of security and launch an attack on unarmed soldiers”.
The green Vauxhall Cavalier attack car was found seven miles away on an isolated rural road. An attempt to set it on fire had failed.
Mr Mooney said this had resulted in valuable evidence being recovered. He said DNA on two spent matchsticks found in the car matched that of Shivers while genetic traces from the defendant were found on another match, lying on the verge beside the car, and on a mobile phone found inside the vehicle.
Mr Mooney said the pay-as-you-go phone had been topped up for the first time the day before the attack and only one call had ever been made on it.
He said that call was in the wake of the shooting when the occupants of the car inadvertently recorded a brief conversation among themselves about the attack.
The recording, which was played to court, included the line: “There was a few dead alright.”
Mr Mooney said Shivers’ alibi — that he had spent the night at home and had ordered in Chinese food — “did not stand up to scrutiny”.
He said Shivers called the takeaway around 50 minutes after the attack took place, which left him plenty of time to have made his way from the abandoned Vauxhall back to his house.
Shivers, wearing a blue jacket and brown trousers, spoke briefly at the start of the trial to confirm his identity. He denies all the charges.
PA