Three men from Lurgan, Co Armagh, were today jailed for 15 years each for plotting to kill police officers.
Damien McKenna (26), of Deans Walk; Gary Toman (24), of Drumnahoe Avenue; and Sean McConville (23), of Kilwilkie Road, all in Lurgan, pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court.
The police said they believed the men were members of the Continuity IRA.
A live mortar, complete with launching tube, was found near the Cornakinnegar Road on April 5th, 2007. The mortar was designed to be fired horizontally into a passing police or Army vehicle.
Earlier court hearings were told the men were being watched by members of an army special forces unit in March 2007 - McKenna had been under observation for up to six months.
The unit saw the men behaving suspiciously in a field and they were arrested by police as they drove away.
Trouble flared in Lurgan tonight after sentencing. There were disturbances in the Kilwilkie estate, and at one stage a van was set alight. Police urged motorists to stay away from the area.
PA