NI terror feud led to bomb attack

The explosive device malfunctioned, the court heard.

A feud between loyalist terrorists in Northern Ireland spilled over to England with a revenge car bomb attack, Preston Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

Stanley Curry tried to blow up John "Big Jack" Thompson, a friend of former paramilitary leader Johnny Adair, in Bolton, the jury was told.

Mr Curry, 47, of Bilton Grange Road, Yardley, Birmingham, denies a charge of conspiracy to cause an explosion.

The December 2003 attack on Thompson's car failed as the device malfunctioned.

'Terror feud'

Thompson fled to Bolton, Greater Manchester, in February 2003 after a feud among loyalist paramilitary gangs in Belfast.

Adair had been commander of the West Belfast 'C' Company of the Ulster Freedom Fighters which had broken ranks with the rest of the UFF.

The court heard train driver Mr Curry blamed Adair's faction for the killings of John Gregg and Robert Carson, members of the opposing faction, who were shot dead in a taxi in Belfast in 2003.

A bomb was placed under Thompson's red Ford Escort overnight in Windsor Grove in the Halliwell area of Bolton, on 16 December 2003, the court heard.

'Loud bang'

He heard a loud bang after going over a speed bump in his car on the way to work, said Mark Ellison, prosecuting.

A small detonator exploded but not enough to explode the bomb placed directly the driver's seat.

"It was only that technical failure, clearly we suggest wholly unintended by those intending to blow him up, that enabled him to walk away from what would have been very serious injuries or death," Mr Ellison added.

He said CCTV evidence showed Mr Curry went on scouting trips to Thompson's address.

Memorial tattoo

DNA evidence from components of the bomb were linked to Mr Curry, the court heard.

Mr Curry, a divorced father-of-one originally from Moreton, Wirral, also visited Northern Ireland regularly and planned to sell his home to live in Belfast where "his type of people" live, he told police.

The court heard he had a tattoo on his back in memory of John Gregg and Robert Carson.

Police also recovered photos of him posing with loyalist banners, including flags showing UFF West Midlands and Midlands Brigade.

The defendant told police he only went to Bolton to buy tickets for a Liverpool FC game and denied being there the night the bomb was planted.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.