Two men – including leading republican Colin Duffy – have been acquitted of terrorism charges following a long-running trial at Belfast Crown Court.
Mr Justice O’Hara said he could not be satisfied they were the men secretly recorded by MI5 discussing a gun attack on police in 2013.
Mr Duffy, who is 56 and from Lurgan, had denied three charges.
Those were preparing terrorist acts, directing a terrorist organisation, and belonging to a proscribed organisation.
His co-accused Harry Fitzsimons, also 56, of Dunmore Mews in Belfast, faced the same charges, plus an additional charge of attempted murder of police officers.
The pair were arrested following the attack in the Crumlin Road area of north Belfast in December 2013.
The day after the shooting, a total of 14 covert devices secretly recorded a conversation between three men in Lurgan Park.
The discussion concerned the gun attack which took place the night before as well as future operations.
It was the prosecution’s case that Mr Fitzsimons and Mr Duffy were two of the three men recorded and that the names ‘Collie’ and ‘Harry’ could be heard on the audio.
Another part of the prosecution evidence was the presence of a silver Lexus, which was the same make and model as Mr Fitzsimons’ car and which was in Lurgan at the appropriate times.
During the trial, several experts were called to give evidence about the audio recordings.
As he gave his ruling on Thursday, the judge said it would be “unsafe” to rely on his own impression of the audio evidence given the “clear warnings” from the experts for both the prosecution and defence.
“In light of this conclusion I cannot say that I am satisfied to the requisite standard that the audio evidence proves that either Fitzsimons or Duffy was in the lane in Lurgan Park on the afternoon of the 6th of December, 2013,” Mr Justice O’Hara said.
“The reasonable and legitimate suspicions raised about their presence and their intent from other evidence are not enough to form the basis of a conviction of either of them.
“In these circumstances, I find both defendants not guilty on all charges.”
Their trial began five years ago, but had faced lengthy delays due to legal applications and the Covid-19 pandemic.
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