Crime & Law

Seven men charged with attempted murder of PSNI officer John Caldwell

Detective Chief Inspector was shot multiple times at sports complex in February

Detective Chief Superintendent John Caldwell attends a garden party at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, this week during a two-day visit to Northern Ireland by King Charles. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Sat May 27 2023 - 23:00

Seven men have been charged with the attempted murder of a senior police officer in Co Tyrone in February.

Det Chief Insp John Caldwell was shot multiple times on February 22nd at a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone, where he coached a youth football team.

Eleven people were arrested on Friday in connection with the case. Four of them, two men and two women, were released on Saturday pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland.

On Saturday night, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said seven men had been charged with attempted murder.

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It said in a statement that “two of the men, aged 38 and 45, have also been charged with membership of a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA. Three of the men, aged 28, 33 and 47, have also been charged with preparation of terrorist acts”.

All seven men are expected to appear before Dungannon Magistrates Court via video link on Monday, May 29th.

Det Chief Insp Caldwell was shot a number of times in the presence of his young son as he put footballs into the boot of his car after coaching a youth football team in Omagh. He spent weeks in a critically ill in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry and suffered life-changing injuries.

The PSNI has said it believes the New IRA dissident republican group was responsible for the attack.

Det Chief Insp Caldwell made his first public appearance since the incident during the week, when he was a guest at a garden party in Hillsborough Castle attended by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Det Supt Eamonn Corrigan on Friday said his colleague was making a “really good, steady recovery compared to where we were the night he was shot, when we in the investigation team feared he would die and it was treated as a potential murder from the beginning of the investigation”.

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