Sinn Fein accused refused bail

Police raided Sinn Fein's Stormont office last month

A Sinn Fein official charged with having documents likely to be of use to terrorists has been refused bail at the High Court in Belfast

Denis Donaldson, 52, from Aitnamona Crescent in west Belfast was arrested on 4 October after police raided Sinn Fein's offices at Stormont, where he was the party's head of administration.

At Tuesday's hearing, Mr Donaldson vehemently denied the charges and rejected prosecution allegations that he was a senior member of the IRA's intelligence gathering wing.

Delivering his judgement on Wednesday, Lord Justice Nicholson said he accepted the accused would turn up for his trial if he was released on bail and that he had worked in support of the peace process.

Denis Donaldson is facing five charges

But he said there were substantial grounds to believe that he may commit other offences.

A total of 1,218 documents were found in a rucksack at Mr Donaldson's home on the same day police searched Sinn Fein's office at Stormont.

He is facing five charges of possessing documents which could be useful to terrorists.

The charges allege that he had documents containing details about the Army's most senior officer in Northern Ireland, a sketch of Castle Buildings at Stormont and details about known loyalists and a serving police officer.

He is the last of four people arrested in connection with a police investigation into alleged IRA spying at Stormont to apply for bail.

The controversy surrounding alleged spying at Stormont led to the collapse of power-sharing and the government's decision to suspend Northern Ireland's political institutions on 14 October.