Seven men charged with attempted murder of senior police detective

All seven men are expected to appear before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court via video link on Monday.
(PA)
PA Wire
Claudia Savage27 May 2023

Seven men have been charged with the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell.

Mr Caldwell was shot several times outside a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on February 22.

He had been coaching a youth football game, and was with his young son at the time of the shooting.

On Saturday evening, the PSNI said that two men aged 28, and five men aged 33, 38, 45, 47 and 72, had been charged with attempted murder.

Two of the men, aged 38 and 45, were also charged with membership of a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA.

Three of the men – aged 28, 33 and 47 – were further charged with preparation of terrorist acts.

All seven of the men charged are expected to appear before Dungannon Magistrates’ Court via video link on Monday.

The so-called New IRA claimed responsibility for the attack, with police investigating if the dissident republican group may have been assisted by criminal gangs.

Nine men and two women were arrested under the Terrorism Act on Friday morning in relation to the attack, with two of the men and two women being released on Saturday.

Seven of the 11 arrested on Friday had been previously arrested in regards to this investigation.

Also on Friday, the police appealed for information in relation to a Mercedes and two Ford Fiestas which were believed to have been used by the gunmen and their affiliates in the attack on Mr Caldwell.

There was a reward of £150,000 offered by the Crimestoppers charity for information leading to the conviction of those involved in the attack.

After spending several weeks recovering in hospital, Mr Caldwell made his first public appearance since the attempt on his life in February as he attended a garden party at Hillsborough Castle and had a private audience with the King earlier this week.

The attempted murder of DCI Caldwell was universally condemned, with US President Joe Biden praising Northern Ireland’s political leaders for showing unity in the wake of the attack.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in