A 50-year-old Co Derry man has been charged with terrorism offences in connection with a major PSNI data breach.
Christopher O'Kane, from Feeny near Dungiven in Co Derry, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena.
He was charged with possessing two mobile phones for the purpose of preparing acts of terrorism, and having information likely to be of use to terrorists.
The defendant refused to stand when asked to do so by the judge and refused to confirm his date of birth.
The court was told that the charges against Mr O’Kane are based on evidence found on phones seized when his home in Dungiven was searched on Friday.
It was told that he had a copy of a spreadsheet containing details of all police officers and civilian PSNI staff, and images with a number of sections highlighted.
A PSNI detective constable told the court the highlighted sections included details of the senior management team of the PSNI and the name of a police officer previously targeted by the dissident republican group the New IRA.
The officer said Mr O’Kane had registered with a secure website that could be used to search for addresses using surnames, and another that could pinpoint an address to within 3 square metres.
The court was also told that the second mobile phone contained images of explosive detonators.
Personal data about all serving members of the PSNI and police civilian staff was mistakenly released and posted online in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The details released included their surnames and first initial, their rank or grade, where they were based and unit they worked in.
In response to questions from a solicitor for Mr O'Kane, the PSNI officer confirmed that the spreadsheet had been downloaded by around 200 people before it was removed from the site.
He also agreed that the information has been shared many times on social media.
The solicitor said his client claimed the information had been sent to him via WhatsApp and that he had deleted it.
The detective constable said police had no evidence that the material had been sent via WhatsApp.
The officer, who pointed out that PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne last week said police believe the information is in the possession of dissident republicans, said police believe Mr O’Kane was going to use the data to attempt to identify the home addresses of those named.
The officer said there was no evidence at this stage that the accused had forwarded the information on his phones to anyone else.
An application for bail was refused and Mr O’Kane was remanded in custody to appear in court again in four weeks’ time.
