Loyalist awaits verdict on Stormont murder bid charges

A verdict in the trial of a notorious loyalist killer accused of attempting to murder Sinn Féin leaders at the North's parliament will be delivered today.

Michael Stone denies trying to kill Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont, claiming his actions were part of an act of performance art.

The 53-year-old from east Belfast is also pleading not guilty to 11 other explosives and arms charges related to the incident in November 2006.

Trial Judge Mr Justice Deeney will deliver his judgment in the non-jury case at Belfast Crown Court.

TV film crews at Parliament Buildings to cover developments in the political process captured the moment he burst through the main door and was wrestled to the ground by two security guards.

It happened months before the historic power-sharing deal between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists on the day Martin McGuinness was due to be nominated as the North’s new Deputy First Minister.

The former UDA member, who attained notoriety in 1988 after killing three mourners when he launched a gun and grenade attack on an IRA funeral at Milltown cemetery in west Belfast, said his appearance at Stormont was a piece of theatre intended to expose the hypocrisy of the politicians.

During his four-and-a-half week trial he said his intervention had actually saved the peace process by giving Sinn Féin and the DUP some breathing space to reach their final settlement.

The father of nine claimed the axe, three knives, garrotte, imitation handgun and alleged home-made explosive devices found on his possession at the scene were all props.

The letters he wrote to local journalists outlining his intention to kill the senior republicans were also part of the “script”, his defence team argued.

While his lawyers called on art experts to support this theory, barristers dismissed it as a ludicrous attempt to explain away a calculated murder bid.

The trial, which was interrupted in June when Stone fired some of his legal team, ended in late September with Mr Justice Deeney taking the six weeks since to come to his final judgment.