Man accused over dissident plot insists he is no terrorist

Denying he was a terrorist or that he supported dissident republican activity, Keith McConnan claimed he purchased an industrial grinder at the request of a man he called Mr X.

McConnan - who is originally from Kilcurry in Dundalk - said that when he realised it was to be used for making explosives and not fuel laundering as he initially believed, he sabotaged two attempts as he did not want to be involved with anything that had the potential to kill.

Both McConnan and 20-year old Orla O’Hanlon were arrested in December 2013 after their Forkill home was searched by police officers acting under the Justice and Security Act.

The couple are facing charges linked to the discovery in their rented bungalow of an industrial grinder, a “complete” Timer Power Unit and a quantity of crushed ammonium nitrate fertiliser - which the Crown say has been “encountered in improvised explosive substances” in Northern Ireland in the past.

McConnan, from Tievecom Road in Forkhill and O’Hanlon, from Church Road in the village, both deny the charges levelled against them.

Giving evidence at the Diplock non-jury trial currently being held at Belfast Crown Court, the former Dundalk Grammar School pupil took to the witness stand, where he denied involvement with dissidents.

Instead, the one-time personal trainer made the case that he was acting under the instuctions of a man he would name only as Mr X. He also made the case that he was acting under duress as he had been threatened by Mr X and was in fear for his family’s safety.

McConnan refused several times to name Mr X, who was later identified in court by the Crown as Dundalk man Oliver Traynor.

McConnan made the case that Mr X ran a gym in Dundalk, offered him a job working at the gym and that at that time Mr X was a friend of his brother’s.

He told the court that in August 2013 a group of armed men called at his parents’ home in Dundalk and threatened his brother, accusing him of being involved in the theft of cigarettes from a local smuggler. This threat, the accused said, left his mother “distraught.”

McConnan said that the cigarettes were stolen from a yard linked to Mr X, promoting him to contact the man he worked with to ask about the threat to his brother. McConnan said Mr X was “dismissive” and that he told him “don’t worry, it will be okay” and that was the end of the issue.

Under questioning by his barrister Barry MacDonald QC, McConnan confirmed that around the same time he was asked by Mr X to buy a grinder, which he suspected was to be used to facilitate fuel laundering.

McConnan said he agreed to buy the grinder due to fear that the threat to shoot his brother would be carried out. He didn’t use his own name to buy the grinder, and according to the accused, the grinder was then brought to a shed on Forkhill Road. McConnan said he was handed a black bin liner containing a substance and told to “make sure everything worked.”

McConnan claimed that when he opened the bag, he knew the substance was fertiliser and not something associated with fuel landering. When he realised it was explosives, he said: “I panicked initially. I was very scared. This was material which could kill people. I felt completely sick, I didn’t know what to do.”

He said he then worked out ways to ensure the grinder didn’t work properly, including turning it upside down and burning out the motor. He then threw what had been ground down away.

Asked why he went along with it, McConnan said: “Because at the time, a lot of things were going through my head. I realised how serious this was, and I also realised my brother and my family would have been under threat if I didn’t do what I had been told to.”

McConnan later claimed he overloaded the grinder and that Mr X was angry. He said “it was hitting a light switch” and that Mr X’s attitude towards him changed and scared him.

A second grinder was then purchased and brought to the bungalow by McConnan under the orders of Mr X, who instructed McConnan to test the machine to make sure it worked. He said he was also given “small box of fertiliser” by Mr X which was to be ground down.

McConnan said he did what was asked of him. When asked by his barrister why, the accused replied: “Because I feared if I didn’t do it what he might do or what he could do.” When asked if he considered any other options, the 21-year old answered: “I contemplated suicide at the time.” He also expressed concerns for both his family and his girlfriend’s safety.

He said that working with Mr X and following his orders was a “juggling act”. He then said that after being told to use the second grinder, he came up with a plan to add pinhead oats to the mix to render it useless and non-explosive.

McConnan said he then called to Mr X’s home with the grounded substance in a bag and was told by the other man to take it away with him. He said: “When I got back to the house I took the bag and poured it down the toilet.”

The police arrived later that evening and both McConnan and O’Hanlon were arrested, whilst a powdery substance - which was later analysed and found to be crushed ammonium nitrate based fertilizer - was located on the surface of the grinder as well as several other locations in the bungalow.

McConnan gave a ‘no comment’ interview to police, which he said was on the advice of the custody solicitor.

He is currently on remand in Hydebank YOC, and when he was asked if he had requested to be moved to Roe House in HMP Maghaberry, he said “never.” When asked why not, McConnan said: “Because Roe House is where dissident republicans reside. I am not a dissident republican, I have no desire to associate with them. I don’t want to be there.”

When asked by defence QC Barry MacDonald whether he had ever supported dissident republicans, or facilitated any acts of terrorism, the accused replied “absolutely not.”

Under cross examination by Crown counsel Terence Mooney QC, McConnan was asked several times to reveal the identity of Mr X, and the consistent refusals were branded a “charade” by the barrister.

McConnan said his refusal was on the grounds that both he and his family were at risk, promoting Mr Mooney to ask McConnan: “Do you think Mr Traynor does not know why you are here?”. He added: “The whole of South Armagh knows why you are here.”

Mr Mooney accused McConnan of lying about the “true relationship” between him and Mr Traynor, saying that instead of being “the young innocent man” caught up he was in fact an “integral part” of the team.

When Mr Mooney said to McConnan “you are a terrorist who was quite willing to test his equipment to see if it would work to make a bomb”, McConnan rejected this and said “I am not a terrorist.”