Suspected New IRA members joined forces with other criminals for a meticulously planned attempt to murder one of Northern Ireland’s top detectives regarded as their “common enemy”, the High Court heard today.
Two men dressed in dark waterproof clothing approached the victim at the rear of his car and opened fire, striking him several times, the court heard. The gunmen made their getaway in a Ford Fiesta driven by an accomplice.In an investigation on an unprecedented scale, police have trawled through 400,000 hours of CCTV recordings, examined mobile phone data, used vehicle registration number plate technology and obtained eye-witness testimony in an attempt to bring those responsible to justice.
The car left the scene at speed following the shooting and was found burnt out in another part of the town. An unidentified witness claimed it came to a “screeching halt” in the driveway before two men wearing waterproof suits got out and ran round the side of the house towards a back garden. It was alleged that the van travelled to the home of a co-accused before returning to Deverney Park later that night. Mr Justice O’Hara was told significant information was obtained from CCTV cameras installed at another address on the same street, despite an apparent attempt to delete footage from the hard drive.