A second man accused of terrorism offences in Northern Ireland has had his bail varied to allow him to attend a family event in Donegal this weekend.
Damien Duffy is facing terrorism charges arising from the discovery of explosives in Co Armagh in September 2016, and is accused of being part of a plot to target a former police officer.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the 49-year old, from Westclare Court in Dungannon, applied to have his bail varied to allow him an overnight stay in Donegal.
The aim of the trip, Belfast Crown Court heard, was to attend a family event today in the wake of his nephew’s death.
Seanna Duffy (19), the son of prominent republican Colin Duffy, died earlier this month following a car crash on the Saintfield Road in Lisburn.
Niall Murphy, the solicitor for Damien Duffy, said Seanna’s death has had a “catastrophic effect” on the Duffy family, who wanted to get away for a few days and “be as a family unit”.
Mr Murphy asked Judge RoseAnn McCormick to relax Duffy’s bail conditions for one night to allow him to stay overnight at a B&B and attend a family meal today.
A prosecuting barrister said a co-accused of Duffy’s, Shea Reynolds – who has two children with Colin Duffy’s daughter – had his bail conditions relaxed earlier this week to allow him to travel to Donegal and stay in a caravan with his partner and her family.
Telling Judge McCormick that as part of bail conditions Damien Duffy and Shea Reynolds were banned from having contact with each other, the prosecutor expressed concerns that due to the “family background”, the two men would associate with each other.
Duffy replied: “We have that agreement in place, that we know the situation regarding the two of us. We have it planned that we will have as minimal contact as possible.”
The judge then said that after being given a “personal assurance” from Duffy that he would leave the event if Reynolds was present, she was prepared to relax bail to allow him to stay overnight in Donegal.
