Terror charge three appear before court

Three men extradited from Slovakia have appeared before a British court today charged with terrorist offences.

The men - Fintan Paul O’Farrell, 35, Declan John Rafferty, 41, and Michael Christopher McDonald, 44 - were last night held at a central London police station.

They appeared at Belmarsh magistrates court and faced three counts under the Terrorism Act 2000 and two counts under the Criminal Law Act 1977.

All three, who are from Co Louth, were remanded to appear again on September 10.

They were arrested by Slovak police, acting on behalf of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, on July 5.

The UK has an extradition agreement with Slovakia which allowed the three men to be transferred quickly to British soil.

All three men are accused of trying to buy weapons for the Real IRA.