Criminal case against alleged dissident republican terror boss soon to enter its SEVENTH year

DUP MP Gavin Robinson has said the delay in hearing the case is “the worst I’ve come across” and dubbed it “utterly appalling”.

In fact, it will not be until November by the time a court gets around to allocating a date for his trial – raising the prospect that any acquittal or conviction may not come until well into 2022.

Meanwhile the accused, alleged paramilitary leader Carl Reilly, is free on bail.

Mr Reilly currently faces two charges, and has pleaded not guilty to both.

The main charge is that “between January 1, 2014, and October 17, 2015, in the county court division of Belfast, or elsewhere within the jurisdiction of the Crown Court, directed the activities of an organisation, namely the IRA, which was concerned in the commission of acts of terrorism”.

He also faces a charge of simple IRA membership between those two dates.

A previous court hearing had been told that Mr Reilly was allegedly tape recorded talking about bombings and shootings, and had referred to himself as “the most f****** wanted man in Oglaigh na hEireann in the north”.

Oglaigh na hEireann translates roughly as “soldiers of Ireland” and is both the official name of the Republic’s regular armed forces, and the name republicans have applied to different paramilitary groupings.

FROM BENIDORM TO WHERE?

The last time Mr Reilly’s case appeared in the press was in 2018, when he was granted permission to go on holiday in Benidorm whilst his trial was pending.

The string of news reports then ran cold, so the News Letter recently decided to find out what had happened to the case (expecting that at some point down the years it had quietly concluded, but had somehow gone unnoticed by the media).

In fact, it has not yet begun.

The Lady Chief Justice’s office, representing the judiciary, said: “This is a complex terrorist case involving expert witness evidence. This case was listed for trial in June 2021 but taken out at the request of the defence. It is listed on November 5, 2021 to fix a date for the trial.”

Mr Reilly is aged 45 and his bail address is given as Pollard Close, off the Springfield Road in west Belfast.

It is thought he has been on bail since at least 2017.

His current conditions include the following:

> That he returns home by 9pm and does not go out until 7am

> Signs bail with police twice a week

> Restrictions on where he can travel

> He must have no contact with witnesses

> He is allowed one phone which must be open to inspection by police

> He must not visit websites including the Republican Network For Unity, Saoradh, and the Irish Republican Prisoners’ Welfare Association.

‘WORST I HAVE EVER SEEN’

Mr Robinson, the DUP’s home affairs spokesman (and trained barrister) said: “We know that our criminal justice process is plagued by interminable delays, but [the delay in] the case of Carl Reilly is the worst I’ve come across.”

He added that the system means many victims “are left waiting years for justice”.

“Often bail is granted because of the fraught delays in the process, and the danger of a suspect remaining on remand for years without a conclusion to their trial.

“But it isn’t good enough.

“The Department of Justice should view [this case] as the systemic outworking of a broken system.”

The PPS said it would not comment because it is a live case.

And the Department of Justice said it was a case for the PPS and judiciary.

The News Letter has been essentially alone in pointing out the sluggishness of the justice system in the Province when it comes to paramilitary trials - particularly compared with the UK mainland.

More from this reporter:

Click here>>> Investigation of dissident republican-linked charity still unfinished three years on

Click here>>> Dissident who avoided jail after judge was told he ‘matured’ still vocally backs hardcore republicans

Click here>>> Trio of recent cases shows feeble punishments for dissidents

Click here>>> Former IRA ‘folk hero’ is ‘hardly fitting face for Amnesty International campaign’ say unionists

Click here>>> Veteran synod member fears for Church of Ireland’s future as annual congress draws near

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