Drones

MI5 drone secrecy wrecks multi-million-pound terror case

Spy’s refusal to allow secret drone information into the public domain has caused a Northern Ireland terrorism case, which cost millions of pounds and the efforts of over 40 agents and 30 undercover cops, to collapse.

Northern Irish brothers Paul and Damien Duffy and a cousin, Shane Duffy, had been charged in 2012 with terror-related offences including conspiracy to murder police officers. They were to be tried in late 2015.

However, it has emerged the trio was acquitted on Thursday after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) refused to make certain details about a vehicle tracking device used in the operation known to the defendants, as opposed to an expert representing the defendants who had signed a non-disclosure agreement.