The Old Bailey bomber and former IRA hunger striker Marian Price has been charged in connection with the murders of two British soldiers who were shot hours before they were due to leave Northern Ireland for Afghanistan.
Price has been charged with providing property for the purposes of terrorism. It is understood that she is alleged to have provided a mobile phone to the gang responsible for the killings.
Price, 57, who is in custody following the revocation of her release on licence, had been expected to appear before Belfast magistrates court for a preliminary inquiry on Friday. She was not produced after it emerged that her defence team wanted to cross-examine three witnesses, including two senior detectives. A date for the day-long committal hearing is expected to be fixed next month.
Peter Corrigan, Price's lawyer, said she was first questioned 18 months ago about allegations of supplying a phone. He said a legal bid would be made to have the case against her thrown out as an abuse of process.
The charge relates to the murders of Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey at Massereene barracks in Antrim in March 2009.The two soldiers were shot outside their base as they collected a pizza delivery. They were about to take a flight to Afghanistan and were already wearing desert fatigues.
Two men, including the prominent Lurgan republican Colin Duffy, are due to stand trial accused of their murders later this year.
Price, who is also known by her married name Marian McGlinchy, was jailed along with her sister Dolours and the current Sinn Fein minister Gerry Kelly for their roles in the IRA bombing of the Old Bailey in 1973. The Price sisters went on a hunger strike, during which they were force fed, in a campaign to be transferred to an Irish prison.
Her early release licence was revoked after she appeared beside a masked member of the Real IRA at a republican commemoration in Derry at Easter.
No comments :
Post a Comment