A sergeant was shocked and astonished when another officer dipped a spoon into powder fro a suspect device to test it for explosive materials, the Morris Tribunal heard today.

Gardaí believed an explosive device planted at a telecoms mast in Co Donegal may have been made from fireworks stored at a Donegal garda station, a retired garda revealed today.

A ROW over the site of a telecom mast led to bitter protests, an arson attack, the planting of an explosive device and the arrest of three people, a court has heard.