Kieran Smyth charged with attempted murder over Dunmurry police station car bomb

Kieran Smyth, 66, from Beechmount Avenue in Belfast, appeared via videolink before Lisburn Magistrates' Court on Saturday charged with attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury after a car bomb detonated outside Dunmurry Police Station on 25 April.

Smyth faces additional charges of hijacking, possessing explosives with intent to endanger life and possessing articles for use in terrorism. No bail application was made; he was remanded in custody to appear again on 18 May.

The device, a gas canister type bomb placed in a hijacked delivery vehicle, detonated at 23:15 BST as police officers were evacuating the area. A detective inspector from the serious crime branch told the court the explosion "could clearly have killed anyone within close proximity".

According to court evidence, at 22:09 BST on 25 April a call was made to a Chinese takeaway in Belfast requesting delivery to Summerhill Park in the Twinbrook area. At 22:43 BST the delivery driver arrived, got out of his vehicle and was threatened by two men. The driver said he was threatened with a pistol. One man placed the bomb in the rear of the vehicle and told the driver he had 30 minutes to bring it to Dunmurry Police Station before the bomb would explode. The driver raised the alarm upon arrival.

Police say the phone used to call the Chinese was topped up by a man believed to be Smyth, seen on CCTV at a shop. The detective inspector said: "The very next transaction on that top-up machine is a £20 top-up of a Monzo bank account linked to Mr Smyth."

Smyth's defence solicitor argued there was insufficient evidence to link him to most of the charges, stating: "All you can say is that he bought a top up at the Centra [shop] and that phone was later used to phone a Chinese." The judge said she "couldn't separate out those charges" and was "satisfied that the defendant could be linked to all the charges".