A man has been found guilty of attempting to murder police officers in a 2022 bomb attack later claimed by the New IRA.
As he convicted Charlie Love (31) on all four charges he faced at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Fowler said he was satisfied Love was “intimately connected with the planning and execution of what was a dissident terrorist bomb attack on a police car with two officers on board”.
“I am satisfied that it was the defendant’s intention that police officers would be killed,” he said.
The judge rejected suggestions the bomb attack in Strabane, Co Tyrone, was an “elaborate incident to scare or terrorise the police” and instead said it fell within a “violent dissident terrorism agenda”.
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The four charges Love was convicted of arose from an attack on a police vehicle in the Mount Carmel Heights area on the evening of November 17th, 2022.
Two officers were in the area at about 11pm in an unmarked armoured Skoda Superb when they reported witnessing a flash and hearing a “massive bang”.
Love’s DNA was located on a modified cordless drill and a command wire located at the site of the attack. Love, from Bridge Street, Strabane, denied all the charges. A non-jury trial was held at Belfast Crown Court.
On Thursday the judge found Love guilty on all four charges. These were the attempted murder of the two officers, possessing explosives and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
He will be sentenced for the offences in September.
The court previously heard from the two PSNI officers, “Officer A” and “Officer B”.
“Officer A” said there was a “very loud bang” and he felt something hit the side of the car.
“Officer B” also recalled seeing a large flash followed by an explosion and force being felt to the left side of the vehicle.
Love was arrested the day after the attack and gave “no comment” responses during four interviews, the court heard.
He was released, but was arrested again that December when the DNA results were confirmed.
He provided a statement in which he claimed he had been approached by a male involved with Saoradh – the political wing of the New IRA – on the day of the attack.
In his statement, Love said this man asked him to take a drill in a bag to waste grounds at Mount Carmel Heights.
Defence submissions on behalf of Love suggested the Crown had failed to prove that by bringing the drill to the specified location he had an intention to kill officers A and B.
The judge noted Love refused to answer police questions at interview and declined to give evidence during the trial.
He said a “sensible explanation for silence” could be that Love had “no answers that could stand up to scrutiny”.
Appearing alongside Love in the dock of Belfast Crown Court was his 30-year-old partner Symone Murphy of the same address at Bridge Street, Strabane.
She stood trial on a charge of withholding information that might assist terrorists on dates between November 16th, 2022, and March 24th, 2023.
When her phone was seized and examined, officers found messages indicating she knew her partner was not at home during the relevant time. When she was later spoken to by police about the explosion, Murphy did not answer their questions about Love’s whereabouts on the evening of November 17th.
She declined to give evidence at the trial.
Defence put forward on Murphy’s behalf indicated all she knew was that Love was not at home on the evening of the explosion.
Acquitting her of the single charge she faced, the judge said he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Murphy knew Love’s whereabouts.
The judge took into consideration Murphy’s clear criminal record.
The judge remanded Love in custody for sentencing in September.
