A woman who allegedly used a pair of men’s underpants to cover her face as she breached a police cordon during a bomb alert at Lurgan Police Station, has had a charge of disorderly behaviour withdrawn by prosecutors.
Elisha Donnelly (26), with an address listed as Abercorn Park in Portadown, still faces charges of breaching a cordon on March 31 this year and obstructing a police officer.
The case was mentioned at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was adjourned to May 29.
A previous court was told that at 8am on March 31 officers were on duty at a cordon when they saw the defendant “running through the police cordon, wearing what appeared to be a balaclava.”
However, it emerged, she had a black-coloured pair of men’s underpants covering her face.
In relation to the security alert, a PSNI spokesperson had said in a press release at the time, that at approximately 10.30pm on Monday 30 March, a fast food delivery driver was making a delivery in the Kilwilkie area of Lurgan when he was hijacked by two masked men, one of whom was armed with a pistol.
“The men placed an object in the boot of the white Audi A4 car and the driver was ordered to drive it to Lurgan Police Station or he would be killed. The car was driven to the station where the driver escaped and ran to security staff, telling them that there was a bomb in the car.
“A significant policing operation was put in place and continued overnight with around 100 homes in the area being evacuated and residents moved to a local rest centre at Lurgan Town Hall.
“Ammunition Technical Officers carried out a controlled explosion to make the vehicle safe and we now know that this was a crude, but viable improvised explosive device. As unsophisticated as it was, it posed a significant risk to the life of the terrified delivery worker, our security staff and the local community.”
“This was a reckless and cowardly attack. Our investigation is in its early stages but, at this stage, we believe it’s highly likely that dissident Republican groups are responsible.”
