micheailin o'cinnsealach (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} fenian32) wrote,@ 2008-05-12 13:01:00 |
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Stone aimed 'to cut Adams throat'
BBC
Loyalist Michael Stone planned to slit the throats of Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness when he stormed the NI Assembly, a court has heard.
Michael Stone claimed his actions were 'performance art'
His trial began at Belfast Crown Court on Monday, where he faces 14 charges including attempted murder.
He has claimed his November 2006 action, which saw him detained by security staff, was "performance art".
However, prosecution told the court when arrested Stone told police he had planned to kill the Sinn Fein members.
Charles Adair QC said that after his arrest, Stone said: "My intention was to walk into the debating chamber and look for where Adams, McGuinness and Sinn Fein were sitting.
"I would have lobbed several nail bombs to cause confusion. I planned to stab Adams and McGuinness and cut their throats."
The lawyer said Stone admitted to counting on the fact that any personal protection weapons the Assembly members had would not have been carried in the debating chambers.
As well as the attempted murder charges, Stone is charged with possessing home-made explosives and an imitation gun with intent.
He is also charged with carrying a garrotte, three knives and an axe and assaulting staff members who trapped him in the revolving doors at Stormont.
Stone, 53, has been in custody since the Stormont incident when the government cancelled the early release he received under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement following his life sentence for a triple murder.
In 1988, he launched a gun and grenade attack on the republican funeral of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar.
Three people died and several more were injured before Stone was arrested by police as he fled Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast.
BBC
Loyalist Michael Stone planned to slit the throats of Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness when he stormed the NI Assembly, a court has heard.
Michael Stone claimed his actions were 'performance art'
His trial began at Belfast Crown Court on Monday, where he faces 14 charges including attempted murder.
He has claimed his November 2006 action, which saw him detained by security staff, was "performance art".
However, prosecution told the court when arrested Stone told police he had planned to kill the Sinn Fein members.
Charles Adair QC said that after his arrest, Stone said: "My intention was to walk into the debating chamber and look for where Adams, McGuinness and Sinn Fein were sitting.
"I would have lobbed several nail bombs to cause confusion. I planned to stab Adams and McGuinness and cut their throats."
The lawyer said Stone admitted to counting on the fact that any personal protection weapons the Assembly members had would not have been carried in the debating chambers.
As well as the attempted murder charges, Stone is charged with possessing home-made explosives and an imitation gun with intent.
He is also charged with carrying a garrotte, three knives and an axe and assaulting staff members who trapped him in the revolving doors at Stormont.
Stone, 53, has been in custody since the Stormont incident when the government cancelled the early release he received under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement following his life sentence for a triple murder.
In 1988, he launched a gun and grenade attack on the republican funeral of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar.
Three people died and several more were injured before Stone was arrested by police as he fled Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast.
