Real IRA bomb-makers jailed

Twin brothers who ran a Real IRA bomb-making factory were jailed by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

Alan Patterson was jailed for nine years and his twin brother, Kenneth, was jailed for seven years and the sentences were ordered to run from their arrest on June 9 last.

Mr Justice Richard Johnson, presiding, said they had been in possession of a ‘‘state-of-the-art, up-to-the-minute bomb-making factory with the latest developments in time and power units.’’

Kenneth Patterson (31), and Alan Patterson, (31) both of Griffith Parade, Finglas, Dublin, pleaded guilty last Friday to the unlawful possession of explosive substances in Dublin and in Dundalk, on June 9, 2001.

Alan Patterson also pleaded guilty to additional charges of unlawful possession of 0.75 kilos of Semtex explosive, an air pistol and a quantity of ammunition in Dublin, on the same date.

The court heard that the brothers had been running ‘‘workshops for the development’’ of bomb components on behalf of the Real IRA. These consisted of home-made timing units for bombs and improvised incendiary devices, ballistics expert Det Sgt Brendan McArdle told the court.

The Pattersons were arrested in Dundalk during a garda surveillance operation into the Real IRA, the court was told.

During searches at a house in Griffith Parade, the home of the accused, and an address at Marmion Court, Dublin, where Alan Patterson frequently lived police found the Semtex, ammunition for an air pistol, and a quantity of other bomb-making equipment.