Royal Marine Ciaran Maxwell accuses ‘former school acquaintance’ over dissident plot

Ciaran Maxwell, the former Royal Marine from Larne

A former Royal Marine jailed for stockpiling an arsenal of weapons and bomb materials has turned “assisting offender” to accuse an old school acquaintance of involvement in the dissident republican terror plot, the High Court heard on Thursday.

Prosecutors revealed Ciaran Maxwell has made statements alleging Niall Lehd helped to source and construct explosives recovered from up to nine different hides in areas around their hometown of Larne.

Maxwell, 32, is serving an 18-year prison term after admitting a series of terror-related offences.

His evidence is now being relied on as part of the case against 29-year-old Lehd.

Lehd, of Seahill Road in Larne, was granted bail on charges of preparing terrorist acts, possessing explosives with intent to endanger life, and possessing documents useful to terrorism.

The alleged offences relate to the discovery of arms dumps in 2016.

Hides constructed out of plastic barrels and buried in the ground contained mines, explosive projectiles, pipe bombs, handguns and ammunition, improvised detonators, timer power units, command wires and command wires.