A man accused of murdering three police officers near Lurgan in 1982 has had his bail conditions altered.
Martin McCauley (62), with an address in Naas in County Kildare, had his case mentioned at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Three Royal Ulster Constabulary officers were murdered in an explosion at Kinnego Embankment near Lurgan in October 1982.
The officers were Sergeant Sean Quinn and Constables Allan McCloy and Paul Hamilton.
The IRA claimed responsibility for the attack. The officers were in an unmarked police car and a bomb was detonated remotely by a command wire.
McCauley, who is originally from County Armagh, is on continuing bail.
He had been extradited from the Republic on the charges. He had then been given bail, the terms of which previously included reporting once a week to the PSNI in Newry and attending a police station in County Kildare twice a day on the other six days.
The PSNI had said the Newry requirement was to “mitigate flight risk”.
At a recent court on August 22 the defence sought to have the Newry requirement ended and for the defendant only to have to sign on in County Kildare twice a week.
A barrister had said they were “onerous” bail conditions involving a weekly round trip of over 170 miles to Northern Ireland.
He said the defendant’s wife’s health condition meant McCauley had extra caring responsibilities.
At the recent court, District Judge Michael Ranaghan kept in the Newry requirement but he altered the Kildare requirements to once a day for the other six days rather than twice.
He had said the case involves “the most serious of allegations”.
The judge had said the previous bail conditions had been complied with for six and a half months and the case would take a considerable time to be dealt with at court.
Judge Ranaghan had said reporting to Newry was “an important safeguard to allow the PSNI to act upon any alleged breach”.
He had said that gives police a chance to “confirm where Mr McCauley is on each and every day of the week”.
The case was then adjourned to October 3 where the defence again sought to remove the need to sign in Newry and reduce the Kildare signings to three mornings a week.
A PSNI officer opposed the variation, saying the Newry requirement was a “crucial” link between the jurisdiction of Northern Ireland and the defendant and meant if there were any bail breaches he could be arrested when he came to Newry.
He said the PSNI could not enforce any signing conditions in the Republic and, although the Garda could inform the PSNI and keep them up to date about signings, “they have no power of arrest” in this case, “and should Mr McCauley not return to this jurisdiction for any court proceedings then we would have to recommence the extradition process”.
The officer said while he was “sympathetic to the condition that his wife is facing”, he believed McCauley signing six days a week in Kildare was necessary to allow the PSNI to deal with any breach immediately.
He said he was “cognizant of the fact that Mr McCauley is taking his wife to hospital appointments”.
At Friday’s Court, Judge Ranaghan said the defendant had being complying with bail conditions despite the “family situation”.
He said a reduction in reporting to police in Kildare is “proportionate” in comparison with a “reduced risk of flight”.
The judge said the Newry signing should remain, but added it could be relaxed to once every three weeks, and said the defendant only has to sign at a police station in County Kildare three times a week now including Sundays.
He said he chose Sunday as it was less likely there would be “appointments for his wife” on that day.
The case was adjourned to October 31.
