A man who left pipe bombs at a Co Down sports ground in an attempt to intimidate a newly formed GAA club into leaving, has been given a three year sentence.
John Wilson, 59, of Lower Braniel Road in Belfast, will spend half his time in jail and half on licence.
He was convicted by a jury at the end of his trial in September and appeared in court today for sentencing.
He had been accused of possessing explosives and attempting to intimidate three people from engaging in sport at the public playing fields used by East Belfast GAA.
The incident took place in August 2020.
East Belfast GAA had been established just a few weeks earlier during the Covid pandemic.
It attracted members from both the Catholic and Protestant community, but faced resistance from elements of loyalism.
Graffiti had been sprayed on changing rooms.
The court heard that crude pipe bomb type devices had been left on the windscreens of cars parked at the facility.
Judge Gordon Kerr said the motivation had been clearly sectarian and was intended to cause fear and persuade members of the new club that the location was "not safe".
Judge Kerr said he accepted that this was not a terrorist case but that the pipe bombs had been left to "cause fear and distress and in order to achieve a sectarian aim of stopping the GAA using public pitches".
The court heard part of a victim statement by a founding member of East Belfast GAA.
He described Wilson's actions as "beyond cruel".
He said he had just got engaged in the days before the incident and it had caused him concern about the potential impact on his family.
The man said even five years later the effect was still felt and a project which was meant to have been about "sports and inclusion" had been overshadowed by Wilson's actions.
The trial heard that police seized Wilson's phone when they arrested him at his home.
It was found to contain messages about the incident.
In addition to the three year sentence for possessing explosives, Wilson was given concurrent two year sentences for the attempted intimidation of the people whose cars had been targeted.
He gave a smile and a thumbs up as he was led to the cells.
Sentence welcomed by PSNI
The PSNI later issued a custody photograph of Mr Wilson and welcomed the sentencing.
Detective Sergeant McVeagh said they'd received a 999 call from a public pay phone claiming that four pipe bombs had been left at Henry Jones Playing Fields on the edge of East Belfast during a GAA training session.
Police had responded but did not find anything when they searched the area.
But later that afternoon three car owners had made contact to report they'd found suspicious objects on their vehicles which had been parked up while they attended training.
Two of them were crude pipe bombs. The other was a screwdriver.
"In all cases, those who had the objects left on their vehicles felt intimidated, and that this was an attempt to stop the team training at the playing fields," Det Sergeant McVeagh said.
"John Wilson was arrested on 6 August. Despite CCTV footage showing him entering the public phone box from which the call was made, he denied that he had made the call and instead claimed he was on his way to a local takeaway.
"He continued to deny any involvement in this matter until much later, when he changed his story to state that he had made the phone call, under threat from people he feared might harm his family. He maintained that he had not left the objects on the vehicles.
"Examination of Wilson's phone uncovered incriminating and sectarian messages.
"There is no place in our society for any action motivated by hate. Had these pipe bombs exploded, they could have caused significant damage – not to mention injury, or worse.
"Substantial disruption was caused in the community and the victims were left shaken and scared when all they were doing was taking part in a sporting activity they loved."
