Darren James Service, 45, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast, has pleaded guilty to charges linked to a loyalist bomb hoax targeting former Tánaiste Simon Coveney.
Appearing at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday, Mr Service entered guilty pleas to hijacking a Vauxhall Vivaro van and placing an article causing a bomb hoax at the Houben Centre, Holy Cross Church on the Crumlin Road on 25 March 2022. These pleas were accepted by the prosecution.
The court heard that a workman was threatened and forced to transport a device in his vehicle to the peace-building event, which Mr Coveney was attending. The centre was evacuated after the van driver alerted police, and the incident was later described as a hoax bomb alert.
A senior Crown prosecutor stated that the first count of preparation of acts of terrorism would not be proceeded with without leave of the court. Judge Gordon Kerr KC ordered a MARA report to be prepared on Mr Service by the Department of Justice.
Mr Service was released on continuing bail ahead of a plea and sentence hearing scheduled for 4 November. His defence counsel, Joseph O'Keefe KC, indicated that updated medical reports on the defendant would be submitted before the hearing.