Three in court after Lisburn shooting

Three men have been remanded into custody in connection with a gun attack in Lisburn.

Gary Shortfall, who is 31 and from Balbriggan, and 30-year-old James Marry and 24-year-old Craig O'Connor, of no fixed abode, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates' Court on Friday.

All three are accused of the attempted murder of a man on July 3 and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

Shortfall is further charged with driving uninsured and failing to stop for police while O’Connor is accused of possession of a class B drug in the same date.

Giving evidence to the court a detective constable said he believed he could connect each of the men to the charges, adding that police had objections to bail amid fears they could interfere with witnesses, not turn up for court appearances and could impede the investigation as the gun used in the attack has not been recovered.

He described to the court how a jeep was seen in the area at 1.45am when four shots were fired at a house on the Ballynahinch Road in Lisburn.

The DC told the court that bullets hit a downstairs flat and one struck an upstairs flat and that later, an unmarked police car saw a vehicle leaving the area and pursued it on the motorway before it stopped close to Dungannon.

The officer suggested the attack may have be linked to a “drug feud in Dublin.”

A solicitor representing all three defendants stressed that no weapon had been found in the car which police had kept “under observation,” adding there was no suggestion that “anything had been thrown from the vehicle".

Refusing bail, District Judge Bernie Kelly said her “main problem” was that two of the accused did not have addresses while the third had an address in Dublin.

Mrs Kelly said there was also a risk of further offences being committed and a likelihood of them not attending court.

Remanding them in custody, she orders them to appear at Lisburn Magistrates' Court on Monday via videolink.