Former IRA bomber arrested
Had recently been deported to Ireland
A convicted Irish Republican Army bomber deported out of Boston this summer has been arrested in Ireland on charges that date back to his days running with the terrorist group.
Darcey McMenamin, who was 18 when he was charged in a 1993 mortar attack on a police station west of Belfast, now faces charges of indecent sexual assault on children, according to a law enforcement source and the Irish Times.
Asked if he understood the charges against him, McMenamin replied: “Yes I do, but I don’t know what they are.” That’s according to the Irish Times that goes on to report the now-44year-old McMenamin allegedly committed the crimes in the early 1990s.
He’s accused of indecently assaulting two children and committing an act of gross indecency on one on dates between January 1992 and December 1993, the Irish Times reports. He was charged in late July right after arriving back to his native Ireland.
An attempt to keep McMenamin’s name out of the press was rejected by an Irish judge last month who the Times quotes as saying: “It’s a serious matter and I don’t feel I can intrude upon press freedom.”
McMenamin is being held without bail until another hearing this month.
In late July McMenamin lost in his appeal to both remain in the Boston area and be set free during the coronavirus pandemic. He was deported back to Ireland, the New England office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at the time.
“There is no safe haven in the U.S. for foreign nationals convicted of terrorist activities. ERO Boston officers still continue their duties even during these trying times,” Todd Lyons, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Boston said last month.
McMenamin was arrested by Randolph Police last year on an outstanding warrant for leasing a motor vehicle by fraud and driving with a suspended license. McMenamin was fingerprinted by Randolph Police and that’s when ICE became aware he was in Massachusetts.
The feds said McMenamin entered and departed the U.S. via the visa waiver program multiple times between 2000 and 2007, but “never disclosed his criminal history on his arrival and departure record as required.” He had been paroled for his IRA bombing conviction.
McMenamin and another man were arrested weeks after a 1993 mortar attack on a police station in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, just minutes after the Irish Republican Army’s threeday Christmas cease-fire ended at midnight, United Press International reported at the time.
Two people were injured in the attack. Efforts to reach McMenamin’s local kin were unsuccessful.