ACTION by the RUC prevented possible confrontation at Crumlin Road courthouse on Thursday when two Belfast men were cleared of murdering two loyalists.
Throughout the hearing at Belfast Crown Court, the rival factions were kept separated in the public gallery. When Mr Sean Clinton and Mr James McCormick left the dock, they, with relatives and friends, were escorted from the precincts before supporters of the dead men, Mr Joe Bratty and Mr Raymond Elder, were allowed to leave.
Mr Clinton (26), of Mountforde Drive, and Mr McCormick, also 26, of Friendly Street, were found not guilty by direction of Mr Justice Campbell following defence submissions. Mr Bratty and Mr Elder were gunned down on the Ormeau Road on July 31st 1994, as they attempted to escape from their parked car after the assassin, opened fire.
The killers escaped in a red Sierra car.
A witness identified Mr Clinton as the person he had seen leaning out of the car window as it turned into Hatfield Street.
Mr Elder's brother, Trevor, who was running towards the sound of gunfire when he saw the get away vehicle, identified Mr McCormick as the driver.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Campbell accepted defence submissions that the identification evidence was unreliable.
The judge said the evidence of the witness who identified Mr Clinton was not of good quality. And he added that Mr Trevor Elder's opportunities to view were limited as the car was across the road, and secondly he had a side view as the vehicle passed him.
"I have come to the view that having regard to the state he must very naturally have been in, his evidence however honest it may be, is not of the quality the court requires.