Simon Coveney bomb hoax: man due in court

A 40-year-old man has been charged with a number of terrorist offences following a hijacking and bomb hoax in north Belfast last Friday.
Screengrab taken from video issued by the Hume Foundation of Simon Coveney about to be ushered from the room due to a security alert.Screengrab taken from video issued by the Hume Foundation of Simon Coveney about to be ushered from the room due to a security alert.
Screengrab taken from video issued by the Hume Foundation of Simon Coveney about to be ushered from the room due to a security alert.

He is due to appear at Laganside court on Thursday morning.

A police spokeswoman said the man has been charged with “preparation of terrorist acts, hijacking and placing an article causing bomb hoax”.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney had to cut short a speech at the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road when a hijacked van, with a suspect device on board, was driven into the car park by a man who had been threatened at gunpoint.

The scene at the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road  on Friday during the bomb alert.

Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEyeThe scene at the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road  on Friday during the bomb alert.

Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye
The scene at the Houben Centre on the Crumlin Road on Friday during the bomb alert. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye
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The vehicle had been hijacked at Sydney Street West in the nearby Shankill area.

A 48-year-old woman arrested as part of the investigation has been released.

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