Man, 43, accused of sending John Finucane death threats wants to call The King and Pope as witnesses

The accused is in custody charged with making a threat to kill Sinn Féin MP John Finucane.

A Belfast man accused of making threats to kill north Belfast MP John Finucane told a court he wants to call witnesses in his case including King Charles, the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Representing himself at Coleraine Magistrates Court, 43-year-old Stephen Altimas told the judge he had an application to cross examine the King, the Pope and the Archbishop. He also told the court he was seeking disclosure of footage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II which he intended to play to the court seeking to establish the standing of King Charles.

Judge DJ King told the defendant that unfortunately, “I’m not in a position to deal with your applications” as they would come under Crown Court rules” rather than Magistrates Court. “That’s a matter for trial,” he told Altimas who was appearing by videolink from prison, adding that he wanted to get the case elevated to the “proper forum as quickly as possible.” Altimas, with an address on the Antrim Road in north Belfast, is in custody charged with making a threat to kill John Finucane MP and a second man who cannot be named due to a reporting restriction on 11 February this year. Altimas is also charged with four further offences in relation to the anonymised victim, allegedly committed on 2nd February, including sending an article to a Crown Court judge “which conveyed a threat,” witness intimidation, harassment and breaching a restraining order. The details of the intimidation charge allege that Altimas “sent a letter to the judge intending to intimidate” the anonymised complainant. The charges arise following a number of incidents during proceedings at Antrim Crown Court in February where Altimas allegedly shouted threats against his victim, declaring that he would “cut his head off” if freed and also that “I’ll cut John Finucane’s throat, there you go.” The case had been scheduled to have a Preliminary Enquiry on Monday but as papers had not been delivered to Altimas, DJ King adjourned the case for a week.

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