Three men convicted in January of having documents connected with the Stevens inquiry left Belfast Crown Court yesterday with suspended jail terms.
Mark Barr (31), of Silvio Street, William Gary Hutchinson (33), of Joanmount Gardens, both of Belfast, and Paul Alexander Givens (32), of Dalkeith Gardens, Dundonald, were found guilty of having documents likely to be useful to terrorists between 1986 and 1989.
The documents were found in a house in Crimea Street in June, 1989. Most were photocopies of originals taken from Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn, by the Stevens inquiry.
The court had heard the three were arrested after their fingerprints were identified on the documents. Lord Justice Nicholson said he could not accept they could forget the circumstances in which they handled the papers.
However, there was no evidence the three had used the documents to perpetrate violence and they appeared to have "steered clear of contact with paramilitary organisations since that time".
He sentenced each to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years.