By 
A Strabane man on trial for the attempted murder of two police officers with an improvised bomb was today refused bail to attend his daughter’s Confirmation service.
Charlie Love (31), who is currently on remand in Maghaberry Prison, denies two counts of attempting to murder PSNI officers.
Love, formerly of Bridge Street in Strabane, further denies causing an explosion and possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.
All the offences were alleged to have been committed on November 17, 2022,
During the compassionate bail application at Belfast Crown Court, a prosecution barrister said the case was currently at trial before Mr Justice Fowler.
He said judgement has been reserved in the case and a verdict from Mr Justice Fowler is presently awaited.
The lawyer told Judge Neil Rafferty KC the case related to the attempted murder of two police officers in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane.
“An explosive device was mounted in an elevated position at the roadside, placed at window height in what was alleged to have been a deliberate attempt to murder police officers who were passing,” said the prosecution barrister.
“The defendant’s DNA was found on the device, the command wire, the trigger and a nearby post.
“In his defence statement he says the device was given to him by somebody from Saoradh from some time before and he had possession of it before it was used in this attack.
“The device was activated on November 17, 2022, but fortunately for the officers who passed at the time of detonation they were in an armoured car and were therefore not injured.
“If convicted, the defendant will clearly face a very lengthy custodial sentence in the region of 25 years.
“This was a well-planned terrorist attempt to murder police officers.”
He said that as the verdict in the trial is awaited, the “incentive to flee increases”.
Handing into court Love’s criminal record, the prosecution said the defendant has 35 previous convictions which included eight entries for assault on police, four for resisting police and four for breaches of suspended sentences.
Love also has a conviction for taking part in an unnotified public procession and breach of a Covid requirement both in September 2020.
He said cautions were recently accepted by Love for the two matters which related to a protest at Maghaberry Prison in support of Roe House prisoners.
“The upshot of his criminal record is that he has a hostility towards law enforcement and is willing to disregard court orders.
“We say that on the night of November 17, 2022, he was on active service for a dissident republican terrorist organisation,” said the prosecutor.
The court heard Love could access a cross border network of support which could assist him to flee the jurisdiction “if he was so minded”.
In relation to the compassionate bail application, the prosecutor said a solicitor was not an appropriate person to chaperone the applicant to the Confirmation service in Sion Mills next Wednesday, February 25 from 3.30 pm and then return to custody by 8 pm.
“This is an area which is approximately two to three miles from the border and there are numerous minor country roads which cross the border and there is simply no way of the chaperone being able to control him if he wished to abscond.”
Defence solicitor Peter Corrigan said Love had never previously made a substantive bail application before and this application was for a limited period of time to attend his daughter’s Confirmation.
“His daughter is someone who is very much part of his life and she visits him in Maghaberry once every two weeks,” said Mr Corrigan.
“This application is about the impact it will have on her if her father was not able to be at this milestone event in her life.
“First Holy Communion, Confirmation and marriage are three big family events within the callendar of a daughter. This is significant as the Confirmation is the coming of age at adolescence.”
Mr Corrigan said Love has been on remand for the past three-and-a-half years which is the equivalent of a seven year custodial sentence.
“He is not going to run away or abscond after he has already banked the equivalent of a seven year custodial sentence.”
He added that if Love was to abscond, the chaperone solicitor would inform police immediately and if he did abscond he would be “back up the road in two to three months” because of new extradition provisions between the two jurisdictions.
Mr Corrigan told the court that the defendant’s father was willing to put up a cash surety of £10,000 to secure his son’s temporary release from custody.
Ruling on the application, Judge Rafferty said: “I am sorry but I cannot grant bail in this compassionate application.
“Despite a surety being involved, there are no conditions that would satisfy me that absconding in the mouth of a pending verdict is not a serious consideration which could be overcome by any conditions that I could think of.
“Accordingly, with some regret, I refuse the application for compassionate bail” added Judge Rafferty.
