TWO men who placed a camera on the driveway of a retired police officer 'in keeping with a prelude to an attack' have been jailed for terror offences.
Damien Duffy, 56, from Coalisland and 31-year-old Shea Reynolds from Lurgan were each convicted of two counts of Preparatory Acts of Terrorism, Possession of an Article for Use in Terrorism and Attempting to Collect Information for Use in Terrorism.
At their sentencing at Belfast Crown Court on Friday, Duffy was jailed for 12-and-a-half years and Reynolds for 11-and-a-half years.
Following their release, both men must serve five years on license and will be subject to terrorist notification requirements for 30 years.
Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Superintendent Moutray from the PSNI's Terrorism Investigation Unit said Duffy and Reynolds were acting behalf of the New IRA 'with the sole intention of gathering information which could be used by terrorists to conduct an attack'.
Dummy camera
Police said Duffy and Reynolds deployed a wildlife camera at various locations in Tyrone and Armagh in September 2016.
Officers conducting a surveillance operation on suspected members and associates of the New IRA spotted the pair placing the camera in the Annaghone Road area of Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone on September 4, 2016.
The pair then returned a few days later to remove the camera.
"Chillingly, they then deployed this camera at the driveway of the home address of a retired police officer on September 14," said DS Moutray.
"This was intended to capture the retired officer's movements — an action in keeping with a prelude to an attack.
"Our officers removed the camera for examination, replacing it with a 'dummy' camera.
"Duffy and Reynolds returned to the address several days later in an attempt to recover their camera, unaware it had been replaced.
"Examination of the camera showed images attributed to both defendants, as well as a forensic link to Reynolds.
"On September 21, 2016, both men were arrested and subsequently charged to court."
History
DS Moutray added that Duffy had previous terrorist-related convictions from 1993, when he was convicted of the false imprisonment and assault of an off-duty UDR soldier.
He was also convicted of attempting to elicit information from the soldier that would be useful to terrorists.
Duffy was subsequently sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with DS Moutray saying the activity was conducted on behalf of the IRA.
Reynolds has never been convicted of any similar prior offending but is currently awaiting trial for his suspected involvement in terrorist-related activity following a 2020 investigation into meetings held by suspected members of the New IRA leadership.
