Omagh man accused of buying parts for hoax bomb granted bail

A MAN accused of buying the parts for a hoax bomb left outside Omagh police station in a hijacked car has been granted bail at the High Court.

Sean Pearson (29), of Culmore Park in Omagh, faces a charge of possessing articles for use in terrorism in connection with the security alert.

Masked men claiming to be from the IRA held a motorist at gunpoint and forced to drive the item to the town’s PSNI station on May 6.

They told the victim a timer had already been set and that he had 20 minutes to take it to the barracks, previous courts heard.

A fake device recovered from the boot of the car after it was abandoned at the police base contained a gas canister, 24-hour mechanical timer switch, adhesive tape and fireworks in a plastic tube.

Pearson, of Culmore Park in Omagh, was arrested and charged on the basis of CCTV evidence obtained from two shops.

He allegedly bought the gas canister and timer switch used in the device from a Home Bargains store in Strabane, and the tape from a branch of B&M Bargains in Omagh.

In court last Wednesday, prosecution counsel confirmed Pearson has not been forensically linked to the hoax bomb.

But opposing his renewed application for bail, the barrister said, “The incident involved an innocent member of the public being forced to drive a device in his vehicle at high speed to Omagh police station.

“It endangered the victim, other members of the public and caused major disruption to the local community.”

Jonathan Browne, defending, stressed Pearson has not been charged with any involvement in the hijacking incident.

He told the court his client denied obtaining anything used in construction of the device and provided full reasons for purchasing items of a similar type.

A mechanical timer was said to have been bought to charge the accused’s mobile phone at night and prevent it from overheating.

Pearson also claimed he acquired a gas canister for a camping stove to use at his work as a plasterer, while the adhesive tape was to seal off windows.

Mr Browne argued there had been no attempt to conceal his identity in the CCTV footage of him making the purchases.

“All of these goods were placed in the back of his van which was not locked at any stage,” the barrister added.

Referring to the circumstantial evidence against the defendant, Mr Justice Fowler described it as currently being “perhaps not the strongest of prima facie cases”.

He ruled that Pearson is to be released on bail to live under curfew at an approved address.

The judge further ordered, “He will also be required to wear an electronic monitoring tag and will have to report to police.”

Commenting after the hearing, Pearson’s solicitor Owen Beattie said, “The Prosecution Service needs to look at this case now and consider dropping these charges.”