Darren James Service, 45, pleaded guilty on Wednesday at Belfast Crown Court to charges related to a loyalist bomb hoax targeting Simon Coveney, who was the Tánaiste, or deputy prime minister, of Ireland at the time of the incident.
Service admitted to hijacking a Vauxhall Vivaro van and placing an article that caused a bomb hoax at the Houben Centre, located at Holy Cross Church on Crumlin Road, on March 25, 2022. His trial had been scheduled to commence on September 7.
Senior defense counsel Joseph O'Keefe KC informed Judge Gordon Kerr KC that Service wished to be re-arraigned on two of the three charges he had previously denied. A senior Crown prosecutor stated that these guilty pleas were acceptable to the prosecution. The prosecution also applied to leave the first count, preparation of acts of terrorism, on the court's books without further proceedings unless authorized by the court.
Judge Kerr ordered a Multi-Agency Review Arrangements (MARA) report on Service, to be prepared by the Department of Justice, and set the plea and sentence hearing for November 4. O'Keefe indicated that updated medical reports for Service would be submitted before the hearing. Service was released on continuing bail.
The court heard that on March 25, 2022, a workman was allegedly threatened and forced by two masked men to transport a device placed in his van to a peace-building event at the Houben Centre. Coveney was in attendance at this event. After the van driver alerted the police to the device, the center was evacuated in what was later described as a hoax bomb alert.
Prosecutors presented the Crown's case, stating that Service drove the two masked men who hijacked the van to the scene. The March 2022 incident was described by a prosecutor as terrorist offenses "carried out by the UVF."
Following the incident, a search of Service's home reportedly uncovered £100,000 in a safe, along with balaclavas, a replica firearm, UVF pins, and luxury watches. A mobile phone belonging to Service has not been recovered. Service had been on remand for 19 months at the time of a previous bail hearing.