Three men accused of spying at Stormont, and whose arrests led to the collapse of the last Northern Ireland Executive, were yesterday acquitted of all charges after the prosecution offered no evidence "in the public interest".
Afterwards the three, Sinn Féin member Denis Donaldson, Ciarán Kearney and William Mackessy, claimed that the original case against them had been politically motivated.
Their acquittal at Belfast Crown Court of a total of seven charges between them of possessing and collecting information useful to terrorists came after prosecuting QC Gordon Kerr told Mr Justice Hart that the Director of the Public Prosecution Services was offering no further evidence in their case.
Mr Donaldson (55), from Artnamonagh Crescent, Mr Kearney (34), Commedagh Drive and Mr Mackessy (47), Wolfend Way, all Belfast, had denied the charges against them.
Mr Kerr told the court that, "directions as to prosecutions are kept under continuing review. In this regard the director has given consideration to facts and information furnished on behalf of the chief constable.
"The director has concluded that having regard to the materials placed before him and his duties as a public authority under the Human Rights Act 1998, the prosecution for the offences in relation to the accused are no longer in the public interest," he added.
Mr Kerr said it was his instructions "to offer no evidence on the indictment".
Mr Justice Hart said that the proper course of action was to return verdicts of not guilty and told the men that they were "free to go".
Outside the Laganside court Mr Donaldson claimed the "charges should never have been brought. It was political policing and political charges and the fact that we were acquitted today proves that." Mr Mackessy said he felt "disgusted with the British government for bringing charges that should never have been brought".
Their solicitor, Ciarán Shields, of Madden and Finucane, said: "This morning, verdicts of not guilty were entered in respect of all our clients. These charges were first brought in October 2002 and they have had the matter hanging over their heads for three years.
"This case had huge implications, not just for our clients and their families but for the community as a whole in the sense that these arrests led to the collapse of the power-sharing executive."
Their acquittal was nearly postponed until today when two of their number initially failed to appear for the previously unlisted hearing in Court 16.
Mr Kerr had told Mr Justice Hart that it was necessary for all three accused to be present before he could address the court. Asked by Mr Justice Hart what he proposed doing, Mr Kerr said simply that he wanted to make a statement as to the progress of the prosecution against the trio.
Mr Justice Hart then told lawyers for the men that if they all did not appear within 15 minutes, he would have to adjourn the matter until the following day.
As it was, within five minutes all three appeared in the dock for the last time to be told the case against them was dropped and that they were free to go.
The three were arrested following a massive police raid on Sinn Féin's offices in Parliament Buildings on October 5th, 2002, in a blaze of publicity.
Leading Sinn Féin official Mr Donaldson was later charged with three charges of possessing documents likely to be useful to terrorists on October 4th, 2002.
His son-in-law, Mr Kearney, faced two similar charges, while Mr Mackessy was accused of collecting information likely to be useful to terrorists.