FORMER IRISH SOLDIER JAILED OVER CAR BOMB
Former Irish soldier jailed over car bomb
A FORMER Irish soldier has been jailed for 15 years for having a massive car bomb twice the size of the Omagh device.
Larry Keane (41) of Athy. Co Kildare, pleaded guilty yesterday at Dublin's Special Criminal Court to having 980lbs of an improvised explosive mixture, a timer power unit, an electrical detonator, two improvised booster tubes and an improvised detonating cord with intent to endanger life, at Dun Laoghaire port last April.
The court was told Keane, who has no connection to any illegal organisations, was offered IR�2,000 to drive the car bomb to England and was paid �300 in advance.
He was arrested by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit as he waited to board the HSS ferry for Wales.
Detective Inspector Eamonn O'Reilly said the home-made explosives were packed into a bag which filled the boot of the stolen red BMW car Keane was driving.
A timer power unit "was found under the front passenger seat, which led through the car to the booster tubes in the boot filled with commercial explosives.
"It was a massive car bomb, a car tomb twice the size of the car bomb in Omagh," Detective O'Reilly said.
The court also heard Keane, who served in the Irish army for six years between 1974 and 1980 had served a sentence as an ordinary prisoner in Portlaoise prison where he had come to the attention of subversives.
Jailing him for fifteen years, Mr Justice Frederick Morris said the court took the view this was "probably one of the most serious cases to have come before this court in the recent past".
"The court regards the potential for death and destruction if this car bomb had been detonated as virtually unimaginable," Justice Morris said.
A FORMER Irish soldier has been jailed for 15 years for having a massive car bomb twice the size of the Omagh device.
Larry Keane (41) of Athy. Co Kildare, pleaded guilty yesterday at Dublin's Special Criminal Court to having 980lbs of an improvised explosive mixture, a timer power unit, an electrical detonator, two improvised booster tubes and an improvised detonating cord with intent to endanger life, at Dun Laoghaire port last April.
The court was told Keane, who has no connection to any illegal organisations, was offered IR�2,000 to drive the car bomb to England and was paid �300 in advance.
He was arrested by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit as he waited to board the HSS ferry for Wales.
Detective Inspector Eamonn O'Reilly said the home-made explosives were packed into a bag which filled the boot of the stolen red BMW car Keane was driving.
A timer power unit "was found under the front passenger seat, which led through the car to the booster tubes in the boot filled with commercial explosives.
"It was a massive car bomb, a car tomb twice the size of the car bomb in Omagh," Detective O'Reilly said.
The court also heard Keane, who served in the Irish army for six years between 1974 and 1980 had served a sentence as an ordinary prisoner in Portlaoise prison where he had come to the attention of subversives.
Jailing him for fifteen years, Mr Justice Frederick Morris said the court took the view this was "probably one of the most serious cases to have come before this court in the recent past".
"The court regards the potential for death and destruction if this car bomb had been detonated as virtually unimaginable," Justice Morris said.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0541
Published Date: 11-Dec-98
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