Eight men, including two Dubliners, have gone on trial at Belfast Crown Court for the robbery from a west Belfast warehouse of more than £300,000 worth of cigarettes early last year. Crown counsel, Mr Pat Lynch, told the jury yesterday the only flaw in the "meticulously worked-out plan" was the arrival during the robbery of armed police officers. Seven of the defendants were detained on the premises as the robbery was in progress, the workers were being held at gunpoint, and cigarettes were loaded into a lorry. The eight have all denied charges of robbery at Holmes Cash and Carry at Boucher Road on February 12th, 1996, and two charges of false imprisonment.
Those arrested in the warehouse are Mr Desmond Christie (32), of Ratoath Drive, Dublin; Mr Derek Sweetman (38), Dingle Road, Cabra, Dublin; Mr Christopher Moran (39), Rock Grove, Belfast; Mr Seamus Hawkins (53), Summerhill Gardens, Dunmurry; Mr Bernard McElkerney (39), Ross Street, Belfast; and Mr Michael Russell (25), of Falls Road, Belfast. Mr Martin Devlin (31) of Norglen Road, Belfast, was found in the staff canteen and 32-year-old Mr Kevin McCaffrey (32), of Riverdale Park South, Belfast, was arrested as he allegedly ran away from the premises.