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Monday, 6 February 2006, 15:58 GMT

'Taped' lawyer on terror charges

Jameson Lockhart murder scene A solicitor whose meetings with clients were secretly taped by police has denied attempting to incite a murder.

Manmohan Sandhu, 41, of Colby Avenue in Londonderry, also faced four charges of perverting the course of justice.

Two of these charges related to the police inquiry into the UVF murder of Jameson Lockhart last July.

A detective chief inspector said the evidence against Mr Sandhu was solely based on recordings of conversations with clients at Antrim police station.

He told Antrim Magistrates Court these were obtained from a listening device hidden in a solicitors' consultation room at its serious crime suite.

The policeman agreed that a solicitor's meetings with clients should be confidential.

However, he added: "Given the seriousness and unusual nature of the offences, I am satisfied that the police response was proportionate, lawful and necessary."

Mr Sandhu has been interviewed by detectives 22 times at the serious crime section of Antrim police station since his arrest last Tuesday.

Feud sparked

A loyalist feud was sparked by the murder of north Belfast man Jameson Lockhart, 25, who was shot as he sat in a lorry on the lower Newtownards Road in the city last July.

Mr Sandhu is accused of attempting to frustrate the murder investigation by making a telephone call requesting that someone whom the police wanted to talk to be "taken offside".

Similarly, he was accused of attempting to frustrate the police investigation into the attempted murder of Jonathan Hillier in Newtownards last August.

It is alleged he took steps to prevent police taking possession of mobile phones, believed to be potential evidence.

Mr Sandhu was also charged with attempting to incite an unknown person to murder Mr Hillier.

He replied "definitely not guilty" to the charges when they were put to him.

Mr Sandhu was remanded in custody.

Meanwhile, the president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Rory McShane, and its chief executive John Bailie have met Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde to express their concern that Mr Sandhu's private conversations with his clients were bugged.

Mr McShane said: "The chief executive and I will now consult further with the membership as represented by the Council of the Society and the Criminal Bar Association."




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