Campbell 'Guilty' Of RIRA Gun Charges

An Irish man has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by a Lithuanian court after being found guilty of attempting to smuggle guns for the Real IRA.

County Louth man Michael Campbell was arrested and later charged in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius after handing over €10,000 to an undercover Lithuanian agent posing as a weapons supplier.

The 38-year-old man has already served over three years of this sentence in a Lithuanian jail but he denies the charges saying that he was 'set-up'.

His arrest was part of an international 'sting operation' co-ordinated by the British MI5 and Lithuanian intelligence aimed at incapacitating the Real IRA, but Campbell believes that he was victim to a set-up by the British Intelligence organisation.

However a recording played as evidence in the court heard Mr Campbell say how easy it would be to plant a bomb in London and escape.

He said: "You can imagine us getting over to England ... you imagine, with a six-hour timer, we could be over to London and back," he says in an audio clip after mulling over a price list for explosives and detonators.

Owen Paterson Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has welcomed the court's decision to convict the Real IRA member.

Mr Paterson said: "This is another excellent example of what can come from the high levels of co-operation between countries across Europe and beyond in combating terrorism.

"I am very pleased with this verdict and would like to congratulate the Security Service and the Lithuanian authorities who have collected the evidence that the Court in Lithuania has clearly found to be both convincing and compelling.

"I have no doubt that this will have dealt a blow to RIRA but we are not complacent and we remain determined to do all that we can to bear down on those who are the enemies of the whole community throughout the United Kingdom."

(LB/BMcC)