Acquitted man's car bugged

A man acquitted of trying to kill two RUC members and a woman voter at a Draperstown polling station in 2001 has accused British agents of bugging his car.

Noel Abernethy said he found the device after he was forced to stop his car half a mile from his Dungannon home because of a problem steering the vehicle.

"I got out a flashlight and had a look around the car. I noticed a wheel nut missing on the passenger side and the others were loose. I then noticed a grey thing like a match box hidden at the back of the mudguard".

Abernethy said some apparatus of the British State was behind the bugging. "I believe the reason behind the bugging is because of the shooting in Draperstown and what came out in my trial about the forensics," he said.

He added that he has asked his solicitor to approach the British Secretary of State to ask to see if he had signed a warrant to bug his car.

Abernethy was acquitted after a senior forensics officer told Judge Nicholson that senior RUC/PSNI members have tried for years to interfere with the workings of the independent Forensics Science Agency.

Forensic scientist Ann Irwin told the court that in the last seven years, some RUC/PSNI members had asked her to cover up their mistakes in the handling of cases involving tests on firearms residue on clothing and other materials taken from suspects.

In court, Judge Nicholson described himself as disturbed by the testimony and would take the matter up with the Lord Chief Justice because of its implications.

The Police Ombudsman has since launched an investigation into the allegations.

Meanwhile, the PSNI has been criticised after it was discovered they were questioning suspects at Gough Barracks in Armagh despite the fact that the holding centre was shut down last year, in a move verified by the man overseeing the reform of policing in the North, Tom Constantine.

The revelation that the infamous holding centre was in operation despite its supposed closure was detailed in Constantine's final report as oversight commissioner.

Constantine added that the fact the PSNI now consider Gough Barracks not as closed but merely a mothballed facility fails to meet the Independent Commission's intent with respect to Gough but also any standard definition of a closed facility.

The oversight commissioner said the changing status of the barracks was a "critical issue".