Man to appear in Belfast court for attempted murder

A 20-year-old man was tonight charged with attempting to murder three people and with membership of a loyalist terror group.

A 20-year-old man was tonight charged with attempting to murder three people and with membership of a loyalist terror group.

He is expected to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court tomorrow morning.

The charges relate to pipe bomb attacks on offices of the nationalist SDLP on the Antrim Road in north Belfast in January 2001 and on the home of the UDA's East Antrim commander, John Gregg, in Newtownabbey on December 22, 2002.

It is believed he was charged with membership of the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used in the past by the UDA and LVF.

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Gregg, a bitter enemy of Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair, was shot dead earlier this year as he returned home from a Glasgow Rangers match.

His home in Nendrum Gardens in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey had been attacked on a number of occasions before his murder.

PA