“At the time Sinn Féin condemned the arrest and subsequent charges and pointed to a political motivation behind the entire episode…”

The BBC reports that the long running saga of the charges against “prominent Co Tyrone republican” Brian Arthurs, who was named in this 2005 Times report as a member of the PIRA army council, and his wife, Paula Anne, has ended with guilty pleas to “three charges of obtaining a money transfer by deception and two counts of possessing £31,718 worth of criminal property”. The couple from Finulagh Road, Castlecaulfield, had been due to stand trial at Belfast Crown Court. But they …

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Brian Arthurs: “Republicans cannot see Irish unity in any of this.”

The ongoing saga of “prominent Co Tyrone republican” Brian Arthurs’ legal challenge to the ruling that he and his wife should stand trial in a non-jury court, on charges of converting criminal property and obtaining a money transfer by deception, received an update on Friday. A panel of High Court judges had rejected Arthurs’ legal challenge in June this year. On Friday the Irish News reported that “those judges [had] agreed to certify two questions to be put before the [UK] Supreme Court on points …

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High Court rejects Arthurs’ challenge to non-jury trial ruling

I noted in May the start of “prominent Co Tyrone republican” Brian Arthurs’ legal challenge to the ruling that he should stand trial in a non-jury court, on charges of converting criminal property and obtaining a money transfer by deception.  The original case against Arthurs collapsed in August 2008 when the judge ruled that the Public Prosecution Service had failed to provide any evidence to the court.  The BBC reports today that the High Court has rejected Brian Arthurs’ legal challenge The …

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