A former IRA chief told detectives investigating the kidnapping of a supermarket boss that he was at a hidden camp where the captive was held, it was claimed in court today.

A retired Detective Inspector has told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin of how Donald Tidey was rescued from terrorist kidnappers in Co Leitrim in 1983 after a three-week ordeal.

Former supermarket boss Don Tidey told a court today of the "battleground'' that erupted around him when security forces rescued him from his kidnappers almost 25 years ago.