Belfast woman jailed for 16 years for police murder bid
A Belfast woman who posed as a Swedish model to entrap a man into taking part in her bid to murder police officers has been jailed for 16 years and four months.
Christine Connor, 31, gasped as Belfast Crown Court Judge David McFarland imposed the sentence for the attempted murder of a police officer in a pipe bomb attack and other terror offences.
Judge McFarland told Connor he believed she was dangerous and was "committed to a violent philosophy to achieve political objectives".
Connor attacked police in north Belfast with blast bombs on two occasions in May 2013 after luring them into the area with fake 999 calls.
The officers escaped serious injury.
The court heard that Connor enticed Stuart Downes, from Shrewsbury, into her plot by using a fake online profile, including a fictitious name and photo of Swedish model Sanne Alexandra Andersson.
Mr Downes sourced and purchased the explosives before shipping them to Connor in Belfast.
He was arrested, questioned and charged with a series of offences linked to the May 2013 attack but took his own life last year.
Police said Connor had also enticed American man Zachary Gevelinger online using her fake identity.
Mr Gevelinger was arrested and questioned by police after he visited Connor in Hydebank Prison in July 2013.
He later took his own life. Neither men had any previous connections to Northern Ireland.
At sentencing on Tuesday, Judge McFarland described Mr Downes as a "pitiful, troubled and vulnerable young man".
"Why he became involved with you is a mystery," he added.
Judge McFarland told Connor there were "disturbing and sinister" aspects to her relationship with Mr Downes and that she "appears to have been the controlling influence".
He said she had attempted to indoctrinate Mr Downes with her views of Irish history.
"I find you dangerous," added the judge.
Commenting on the case PSNI’s Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell said: “Christine Connor engaged in social media with these individuals, she presented an image of herself which was not actually her it was someone else.
"She undoubtedly used that to entice Stuart Downes into an online relationship with her.
“She was very calculated. She involved Mr Downes who was an individual who had no previous connection with Northern Ireland or Northern Ireland related terrorism in any way.
"She undoubtedly built up that relationship with him and then took advantage of him in order to obtain the materials that she needed to ultimately carry out this attack on our police officers - who were responding to what they thought was a female victim of very serious domestic violence.”
Det Supt Campbell said the devices thrown at police fully exploded and showed “a degree of sophistication” in that they had a “deadly capability”.
“The nature of the incident itself shows that Christine Connor was motivated by violent dissident republicanism - I don’t have any evidence that she is formally connected or was formally connected to any of the known dissident republican groups,” he continued.
He said the police officers were very lucky not to have been harmed.
He said: “They rightly feared for their lives – the debris and shrapnel from the explosive devices caused a huge amount of damage to properties nearby, pieces of metal embedded themselves in PVC window frames, in thick fence posts.
"Having seen that damage, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that had one of those struck the police officers, they would have been very seriously injured or killed.”