Man guilty of possessing bombs which exploded outside homes

A man has been found guilty of possessing pipe bombs which exploded outside homes in Londonderry between 2017 and 2019.

Noel Logan, 37, from Nelson Drive in the city had denied three counts of having the devices with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury.

At Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Mr Justice Fowler said: "I am satisfied the defendant handled the three devices but I do not find that he deployed them.''

Logan will be sentenced next month following the completion of a Probation Board report.

The court had heard that, following a police investigation, Logan was arrested in December 2020, charged and remanded in custody at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was the prosecution's case that Logan's DNA was found on all three devices which had exploded outside homes in the Waterside between July 2017 and September 2019.

The DNA was extracted from tape found attached to all three devices.

The remnants of the devices were made safe by Army Technical Officers before being removed for examination.

Forensic science experts reported that in two of the cases there was a one in a billion chance that the DNA found on the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) did not match Logan.

Following the examination of a third device, the expert said there was a one in 1.7 million chance it did not belong to the defendant.

During the trial, the prosecution also stated Logan lived less than a mile and a half from the three targeted addresses.

In his defence, Logan claimed he had "no involvement in any way whatsoever with the pipe bomb attacks'', and that he had never seen a pipe bomb "never mind touch one''.

He claimed there was an innocent explanation for how his DNA was found on tape attached to the devices.

The defendant alleged he used the tape to attach flags to lamp posts in the Waterside in the run up to 12 July celebrations, and the tape roll would be thrown into a box after they had finished.

He claimed someone else who had access to the box could have used the tape roll in the construction of the pipe bombs.

The court heard the ''crude devices'' consisted of copper piping up to 500 millimetres in length, tape, small gun propellant and were fitted with ball bearings and nails, which acted as shrapnel when the device exploded.

Although they contained low odour explosives, Mr Justice Fowler said they were "extremely effective anti-personnel devices capable of inflicting serious injury or death''.

"I am satisfied the defendant had the necessary intention to cause serious injury or to enable another to do so.''

Mr Justice Fowler remanded Logan into custody.