Man in court over soldier murders

Mr Duffy was remanded in custody until 21 April

Prominent dissident republican Colin Duffy has been remanded in custody charged with the murders of two soldiers outside a barracks in Antrim.

Mr Duffy, 41, appeared at Larne Magistrates Court on Friday morning.

A PSNI chief inspector said the main evidence against the 41-year-old was DNA on a latex glove discovered in a Vauxhall Cavalier car.

"This is not trace elements - this is a full DNA profile," the officer told the court.

"It was inside a latex glove found on the floor of the Vauxhall Cavalier."

The chief inspector later conceded that only the tip of the glove had been found.

Who is Colin Duffy?

A Vauxhall Cavalier, believed to have been driven by sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey's killers, was abandoned outside nearby Randalstown after the shootings.

Objecting to bail, the chief inspector said there were three main planks of the prosecution case - forensics, CCTV and witness evidence.

Angry scenes as Colin Duffy leaves court

He said a witness could place the getaway car outside the barracks in the seconds before the attack.

A defence barrister said that Mr Duffy had remained silent during interview except to deny involvement in the killings.

He added that the case against his client was "very poor" and "lacked weight at this juncture".

Mr Duffy was remanded in custody until 21 April to appear at Antrim Magistrates Court.

In addition to the two murder charges, Mr Duffy was also charged with five counts of attempted murder and one of having firearms and ammunition.

Applause

As he was led from the dock there were cheers and a round of applause from more than two dozen supporters, mainly women, sitting in the public gallery.

Sappers Azimkar and Quinsey, from London and Birmingham respectively, were shot collecting pizza at the Massereene barracks on 7 March.

On Thursday six suspects in the murders, including Mr Duffy, were released by the High Court after a legal challenge to their detention.

Mr Duffy was freed but re-arrested at Antrim police station a short time later.

The murder of the soldiers was followed by the killing of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon two days later.

The soldiers were the first murdered in NI in 12 years

Two men, a 17-year-old youth and a former Sinn Féin councillor, 37-year-old Brendan McConville, have been remanded in custody charged with the murder of Constable Carroll.

A 21-year-old man has been remanded in custody accused of withholding information in relation to the policeman's murder.

The dissident republican Real IRA shot Sappers Azimkar and Quinsey outside Massereene barracks, while the dissident republican Continuity IRA claimed the murder of Constable Carroll.

Four other people, including two pizza delivery men - Anthony Watson, 19, from Antrim and a Polish man in his 30s - were injured in the attack on the County Antrim barracks.

The two young soldiers were the first to be murdered in Northern Ireland in 12 years.