Following the submissions, Judge Lynch said he wanted to consider the matter and he would give his judgement next week
Judgement was reserved today in the case of a Derry man accused of encouraging support for a banned terrorist group.
Joseph Campbell, aka Joseph Farren, 25, of Gosheden Cottages in the city, went on trial on Tuesday of this week to deny a single charge of inviting support for a proscribed organisation.
During the trial, Belfast Crown Court heard the charge related to a post published on Campbell’s Facebook page on June 14, 2020, containing a statement from Oglaigh na hEireann (IRA).
The text of the post read: “The primary consideration of Oglaigh na hEireann active service units while exploring the viability of any operation is the safety of the civilian population in the area.
“As a result, many actions are cancelled or delayed, greatly endangering the security and lives of our volunteers, because of the proximity of civilians to Crown forces personnel.
“We therefore appeal for your cooperation and understanding and ask you to stay clear of all Crown force personnel.
“Signed: Oglaigh na hEireann.”
The post also contained an image of a soldier, with the slogan: “Stay Clear. Isolate the Enemy, Keep Them in Fear.”
A prosecution lawyer told Judge Patrick Lynch KC, sitting alone without a jury in the Diplock-style trial, that the image appeared to be from a historical post.
The lawyer said the text from the post also appears in the same poster, with the addendum ‘Go raibh maith aigibh’ and is signed off ‘Belfast Brigade, Oglaigh na hEireann’.
The court heard this post received nine reactions being either ‘thumbs up’ or ‘hearts’.
The prosecution case was that Campbell was linked to the Facebook page as it bears his name as Joe Campbell, has a ‘vanity name’ of ‘joseph.farren319’ and it also has its own target number which was the target number of the Facebook profile accessed on the mobile phone seized from the defendant’s home.
The court was told it also had the profile picture and other posted photographs which are photographs of the defendant.
The IP address used to access Facebook on June 14, 2020 is the same IP address as that assigned to the Talktalk router registered to the home of Mr Campbell’s mother at Gosheden Cottages where he lived.
On November 4, 2020, police seized the defendant’s mobile phone from his home and submitted it for examination.
The Instagram account on the phone showed the owner of the phone as ‘Joe’ and the Facebook account as ‘Joe Campbell’.
Campbell was arrested at his home that day and during police interviews he made no reply to all questions.
Further examination of Campbell’s Facebook account showed repeated expressions of support for dissident republicans and the IRA between June 2020 and September 2020.
A banner photograph on the profile showed graffiti which read: ‘RUC Beware. The IRA have had their Weetabix.”
The court was told there was also a quote purportedly from Dolours Price which read: “The bodies of informers should be thrown out on the street to put the fear of God and the republican movement into anybody that would choose that form of life”.
This quotation was shared alongside a picture of ‘British agent, Denis McFadden’ and a photograph of UDR Lance Corporal Ken Newell, lying face down in a grass verge, with his hands bound behind his back.
The court heard Denis McFadden was alleged to have been involved in an undercover MI5 operation against dissident republicans.
The account also referenced Peadar Heffron, a Catholic PSNI officer, who was blown up in Randalstown in January 2010 by an undercover improvised explosive device as he drove to work and lost both his legs.
A caption beside his picture read: “When the war is over what will sammy do? He’ll be hopping around on a leg and a half whilst the general still has two.”
It also shared a statement from Oglaigh na hEireann which confirmed that they remained “active and committed to achieving a 32 county socialist republic” through ”physical force”.
A photograph was also posted on Campbell’s Facebook account of graffiti stating: ‘IRA here to stay. Informers will be executed’.
An examination of Campbell’s phone showed internet searches were carried out for ‘IRA’, ‘Lyra McKee’, ‘new ira sophistication’, ‘peadar heffron’, ‘South Derry’, and ‘derry ira’.
The prosecutor said Campbell’s Facebook posts contained a mixture of “historical and contemporaneous material relating to dissident republicanism and dissident republican activities”.
She said it was for the court to determine what was the purpose behind posting the image and text on June 14, 2020.
In closing submissions on Wednesday, the prosecution barrister said that the court can conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was the person who posted the photograph and caption on Facebook and it amounts to the defendant’s intention to invite support for a proscribed organisation.
“This was the defendant’s abundantly clear intention, given the reactions to the post, given the other postings he has made, that was what he intended to do.”
Defence counsel Seamus McNeill KC said during Campbell’s arrest a “multiplicity of electronic devices” were seized by police including mobile phones, iPads, laptops, a tablet, a computer and two Xbox consoles.
“There is no evidence that any of those were used to make this post. Indeed, in regards to the defendant’s mobile phone, there is no evidence it was used to make that post,” said Mr McNeill.
“If the court is against me on this and it is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he made this post, my fall back position is that we say his support is a matter of irrelevancy and the court must concentrate on whether or not the post was an invitation to support (a proscribed organisation).
“The court needs to be careful as this particular document is open to an alternative interpretation. It is a reasonable possibility that this was a warning issued in the aftermath of the murder of Lyra McKee and the court could not exclude that possibility.
“On that interpretation, we would invite the court to have a reasonable doubt in this case.”
Mr McNeill said the court should not draw any adverse inferences from the defendant not answering police questions and not giving evidence at his trial.
Following the submissions, Judge Lynch said he wanted to consider the matter and he would give his judgement next week.
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