IRA bomb leak jury out

The jury in the trial of a Special Branch officer accused of leaking confidential information today retired to consider its verdict.

Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Mutch is alleged to have revealed the identity of a prime suspect in the 1996 IRA bombing in Manchester which injured more than 300 people.

Declan McCann, 31, of Crossmaglen, South Armagh, was named in a front page article in the Manchester Evening News in April 1999.

Mutch is alleged to have provided the information to the paper’s crime reporter Steve Panter because he was disappointed that a decision had been taken by senior officers not to arrest and interview the prime suspect.

Mutch, 51, denies a charge of misconduct in a public office.

The case is being heard at Manchester Crown Court.