Porter accused of copying top secret papers for IRA

A FORMER Government porter at the centre of a suspected IRA spy ring copied top security papers on Northern Ireland’s most senior army officer, a court heard yesterday.

William Mackessy, 44, faces two charges of aiding terrorists while working at the Northern Ireland Office in Belfast.

He is the third person charged following the police raids on Sinn Féin’s offices at Stormont which have left the power-sharing assembly on the point of collapse.