Bail refused once again
Opposing Colin’s renewed application for bail, Crown counsel Tessa Kitson argued that a specific alleged role played by Colin did not have to be identified.
However, defence barrister Mark Mulholland insisted the prosecution was unable to attribute a role to his client due to “the paucity of the evidence”.
He also pointed out that the Crown no longer alleged that Colin was one of the gunmen, while two witnesses had failed to pick him out in identification processes.
But refusing bail, Mr Justice Deeny held that the nature of the alleged offences was relevant.
The judge said: “This was a successfully planned and ruthlessly executed terrorist attack, and the applicant is in the position that there is a prima facie case that he was actively involved or involved in some significant way in the joint enterprise.”
He noted the allegation was of involvement in “the taking of human life for reasons it would appear connected to support for dissident republican beliefs”.
Mr Justice Deeny added: “That dissident republican campaign continues, with a further tragic murder (Constable Ronan Kerr) in relatively recent months.
“Therefore one must infer that his release would carry a real risk of encouragement being given to that campaign, ie. the real risk of further offences.”
Speaking after the bail hearing, a spokesperson for the Friends of Colin Duffy campaign group said:
“Colin has now spent almost two and a half years on remand. The indications are that his trial will not commence until next March. This will mean that Colin will have spent three years in prison without having been convicted of any offence. It is a clear case of internment without trial.
“The British state have shown once again today, through their judiciary, that the policy of holding Irish republicans as Political Hostages is as acceptable to them today as it was in the past.
“In refusing Colin bail, Mr Justice Deeny has used a twisted sense of logic. To infer that Colin’s release “would carry a real risk of encouragement” to an armed campaign is ludicrous and shows that the judiciary have learned nothing from the past. He is clearly of the view that it is right that Colin should be detained as a political hostage.
“Anyone with an understanding of the history of conflict in Ireland knows that it is injustice that fuels the fire of conflict. It seems that the British judiciary have yet to learn that lesson.”
