Man charged over fair bomb

Incendiary car bomb was defused by army technicians

A man has appeared in court in connection with an attempt to bomb a County Antrim summer fair.

Raymond McMaster, 30, from Coleraine, was charged with having explosives and planting an explosive device when he appeared at North Antrim Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

His address cannot be disclosed by order of the court.

The site of the Auld Lammas Fair in Ballycastle was evacuated on 28 August last year when a car bomb was discovered.

The device was found by a police officer who was on foot patrol in Ballycastle during the second day of the fair, which brings thousands of visitors to the town.

It was in a parked car in Castle Street and consisted of a timing device, a detonator and two gas cylinders.

A telephone warning was received from loyalists after police began clearing thousands of people from the area.

The device was defused by army bomb experts.

Mr McMaster, who replied no to each of the charges, was remanded in custody.