A lunch box hoax bomb left on a bus was designed to cause chaos and disruption ahead of a "mini Twelfth" Orange parade in Glengormley, a Belfast court heard yesterday.
Mr Justice Weir told a High Court bail hearing: "I thought we were past the days when bus drivers were subjected to this form of terrorism, never mind their fare-paying passengers."
The judge made the comments after lawyer Charles McKay opposed releasing 38-year-old father-of-three Martin Gerard Rafferty on bail.
Mr Rafferty, from Fairyknowes Park, Newtownabbey, is accused of hijacking a bus and placing an article on the vehicle, causing a bomb hoax, last month.
Mr McKay told the hearing that around 6.45am on June 27th, two men boarded a bus with five passengers on board on the Ballyclare Road in Glengormley.
One of the men placed a package on the dashboard of the vehicle, claiming it was a bomb and ordering the driver to take the device to the Orange arch, a few hundred yards away.
Saying the incident was intended to cause "chaos and disruption", Mr McKay said a "mini Twelfth" parade was due to take place in the area later that day.
The crown lawyer said the lunch box device was a hoax but "to the naked eye looked like the real thing".
The court was told the hoax was linked by police to dissident republicans.
Defence barrister Gavin Duffy said there was "no suggestion" his client was a member of a dissident republican organisation.
He branded the video evidence against Mr Rafferty as "of very poor quality".
Mr Justice Weir refused bail.