THE 41-YEAR-OLD Fermanagh man man on trial accused of involvement in a 'New IRA' attempt to murder a policeman outside a Belfast golf club was refused bail yet again today (Tuesday).

Belfast's senior Crown Court judge Recorder Stephen Fowler QC said there were no sufficient changes in the circumstances in the case of Peter Thomas Granaghan either on personal grounds and given the stage of his trial to warrant his release on bail at this time.

Mr. Granaghan from Blackrock Park in Belleek, County Fermanagh, denies the 'New IRA' claimed murder-bid of the off-duty officer and making and possessing the booby-trap bomb he discovered under his Jeep parked at Shandon Park Golf Club on June 1, 2019.

The officer had just finished a round of golf at the east Belfast club and was walking back to his vehicle when he spotted the IED (improvised explosive device).

The officer identified only as Witness A said later he initially "wondered if it was placed there as a wind-up".

Last December Judge Fowler reserved his ruling in the case following defence and prosecution submissions in the Diplock-style no jury trial.

In their submissions defence counsel branded the prosecution case in the trial as little more than circumstantial, lacking credibility and as such Mr. Granaghan had "no case to answer".

The prosecution maintain his DNA was located on a piece of wire on the bomb and that he was involved in the construction of the device which was planted by others.

However, the defence claim the Crown failed to establish exactly what Granaghan had done, the role he played, and whether the DNA deposits were either a primary, secondary or tertiary, or "when, where or how it was deposited on the wire".

The prosecution counter argument was Mr. Granaghan was a "key player" in a joint enterprise to kill or maim a police officer which was carried out by a "violent strain of Republicanism".

Counsel said there was no dispute his DNA was the only profile on the device, and that it was located both on the inside and outside of the bomb suggesting he was involved in its construction.

While accepting the DNA evidence in itself may not be sufficient, the prosecutor further claimed their case was backed up by circumstantial evidence including "a group of convicted terrorists visiting Mr. Granaghan in prison".

And that: "In the circumstances of his background, animosity towards police and association with terrorists ... we say all this provides sufficient evidence to make the DNA evidence compelling."

The ruling on whether or not to stop the trial is expected shortly.