PSNI booby trap car bomb accused given bail on strict terms
A CO Tyrone man accused of attempting to murder a Catholic police constable in an under-car booby trap bomb attack over a decade ago has been released on stringent bail conditions.
Gavin Coyle (42), recently acquitted of an IRA blackmail attempt, denies the attempted murder charge.
The male officer sustained serious leg injuries in the Real IRA bomb attack at Spamount, near Castlederg, on May 12, 2008.
Coyle, whose address on court papers was given as Mullaghmore Drive, Omagh, is accused of causing the under-car explosion and membership of the IRA, also in May 2008.
Defence counsel Neil Fox told Crown Court Judge Neil Rafferty QC that Coyle had previously been on bail. This, however, was revoked when on trial for the blackmail charges, of which he was subsequently acquitted.
Prosecution counsel David Russell said while the reinstatement of bail was opposed, the provision of new sureties supplied by the defence were acceptable to the prosecution.
Granting Coyle his own bail of £750, with two sureties of £750 each, Judge Rafferty imposed a number of stringent conditions, many of which were contained in his parole licence.
They include reporting to police Monday to Friday and refraining from associating with a list of named individuals.
The Belfast judge also ordered that he is only to have one mobile phone, whose make and model number are to be reported to police.
It must not have any internet access and no call data may be deleted at anytime.
He is also to be tagged and, as set out in his parole licence, must not leave the jurisdiction.
Parole commissioners agreed to Coyle’s licence last week.
He was originally jailed in 2013 for 10 years after pleading guilty to having a stockpile of weapons and explosives between October 31, 2010, and April 6, 2011.
He also admitted to membership of a proscribed organisation, the IRA.
The weapons, explosives and other terrorist material were found in a lock-up garage in Coalisland by serious crime branch detectives investigating the murder of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr on April 2, 2011.