One of the men charged over a claim of responsibility for the attempt to murder a top PSNI detective allegedly made fun of the attack on social media, the High Court in Belfast heard on Monday.
Prosecutors claimed Tiarnan McFadden, 25, uploaded an image of a ball hitting the back of a net on the night Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell was shot after finishing a youth football coaching session in Omagh, Co Tyrone.
The posting was captioned: “Anyone fancy a kickabout.”
Details emerged as Mr McFadden, of Carnhill in Derry, and co-accused Caolan Brogan (23), from Bluebellhill Gardens in the city, made applications for bail.
They are jointly charged with possessing an article for use in terrorism, namely a typed notice declaring that the New IRA carried out the attack.
A third man, William McDonnell, 37, of Balbane Pass in Derry, is accused of the same offence.
DCI Caldwell was shot repeatedly and seriously wounded in front of his young son at a sports complex on February 22nd. Seven other men are currently in custody charged with his attempted murder.
On February 26th, a typed letter setting out the claim of responsibility for the assassination bid appeared on a gable wall at Central Drive in Derry’s Creggan estate.
It stated that a New IRA active service unit targeted the off-duty policeman “within our chosen kill zone” and warned that the terrorist grouping will be waiting in future for members of the security forces.
Based on CCTV and air support footage, the prosecution contend the note was attached approximately 20 minutes before the message appeared on the Twitter account ‘Republic Media’.
Mr McFadden and Mr Brogan allegedly travelled together to Mr McDonnell’s home, collected a bucket and then headed in the direction of the gable wall, the court heard.
A Crown lawyer claimed the two suspects remained at the scene for less than a minute.
She suggested that three flashes seen on the footage during that period were photos being taken for social media purposes.
With the defendants denying any involvement in the incident, Mr McFadden told police he was only at the wall to clean graffiti from a mural.
Mr McFadden’s barrister argued that the charge was based entirely on circumstantial evidence.
“The prosecution will never be able to establish the point at which this claim of responsibility went on that wall,” he insisted.
Counsel for Mr Broghan described it as a “tenuous” case involving poor quality CCTV footage, adding that the notice could have been posted as far back as February 22nd.
Reserving judgment on both defendant’s application for bail, Mr Justice O’Hara said he will give his decision at a later stage.