Four in court after police searches targeting UVF in east Belfast

Four men have been remanded in custody after they were charged with a number of weapons offences following a police operation targeting the east Belfast UVF.

The court appearances followed a number of searches in the city on Friday, during which weapons and items of ammunition were recovered, Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard.

The operation involved searches of three residential properties and one business premises.

First to appear in court were brothers William James Baker, 51, and Robin Baker, 47, from Belvoir Street in Belfast.

They were both charged with possessing firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possession of firearms in ammunition in suspicious circumstances.

They were further charged with possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances and possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.
They were also charged with possession of a prohibited weapon.

A detective constable told the court that police had recovered six handguns, ammunition, two pipe bombs and two smoke grenades from their home during a search on Friday.

She said the weapons were stored behind plasterboard in a “void” between the living room and kitchen area.

The officer said that during police interview William Baker had said he had been approached by a man who had handed him a bag and asked him to store it.

His defence solicitor said his client believed he would be killed if he had not complied.

A solicitor for Robin Baker said his client was a vulnerable person and there was nothing to connect him to the items found in the house.

Next to appear was Bryce Pounder, 34, a former soldier from Newtownards Road in Belfast.

He was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances as well as possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances and possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

The court was told that a pipe bomb, handgun, silencer and ammunition had been found during a search of his apartment.

The officer said that during interview Pounder had said he had a drug debt and that individuals had asked him to store the items so that the “slate would be wiped clean”.

Some of the material was found in a school bag and a holdall under the bed, the court was told.

The final defendant to appear was 49-year-old Noel Bambrick from Connswater Grove in Belfast who was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances as well as possessing articles for use in terrorism.

The court heard that police recovered a suspected Webley gun loaded with six rounds of ammunition, a hoax explosive device as well as UVF memorabilia from his home.

A police officer told the court that the gun had yet to be forensically examined amid a claim from a defence lawyer that it was a replica.

She said that in interview Bambrick, a former soldier, had denied he was a storeman for the east Belfast UVF.

District Judge Mark McGarrity rejected bail applications from the two brothers and Pounder and remanded all the suspects in custody to appear again in court in December.