John Major's details found in files of 'IRA officer'

An alleged senior IRA intelligence officer held information on the former prime minister John Major and almost 50 judges, a Belfast court was told yesterday.

Intelligence on the former chancellor Norman Lamont and Tory MPs was also in the possession of John O'Hagan, the prosecution says.

He is alleged to have collected the personal details of 35 police officers, 49 members of the judiciary, including the home addresses of court staff, and the specialisms of 33 scientists at the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The details were given by a crown lawyer during an unsuccessful bail application by Mr O'Hagan, 30, from the New Lodge area of north Belfast, who denied possessing documents that could be useful to terrorists.

"In total 526 names have been recovered from O'Hagan's computer with varying amounts of detail connected to each," the lawyer said.

He said among documents seized were details of Mr Lamont's favourite London restaurant and a list of Conservative MPs who used the Reform and Carlton clubs.

He said the files, which included computer material, also contained information on public and private services in England including gas, coal, electricity, communications, roads and rail.

A recovered document was said to cite "consistency" and "effort" as key logistical factors for the success of operations such as the Docklands bombing in London and the atrocity in Warrington in 1993, in which two schoolboys were killed by an IRA device.

The lawyer added: "Police believe this collecting of information has been going on for a long period. O'Hagan is suspected of being a senior member of an intelligence-gathering unit linked to the IRA."

Defence counsel said the information in the files was "banal, non-specific bumph", which would be of very dubious assistance in planning any attack.

Mr O'Hagan had no case to answer in relation to anything retrieved from the computer because it was in the machine's memory and could not be linked to him, he said.

Counsel said it was ludicrous to suggest that Mr Major and Mr Lamont were possible targets just because books about them were found in Mr O'Hagan's home. There had not been an IRA attack on a Conservative politician, for 18 years, he added.

"Shooting John Major and targeting Norman Lamont – one has to inject a note of reality in all this," he said. Referring to the 1984 IRA attack in Brighton in which five people were killed, Mr Justice Girvan commented: "The Grand Hotel in Brighton was a reality."

The judge said the inference to be drawn from the quantity of information was that it was being gathered for terrorist activity, adding: "The court has to take account of the risk to society."

Meanwhile, the trial continued in Colombia of three Irish republicans accused of giving training to right-wing Farc guerrillas, with two witnesses failing to turn up.

The two, described as former members of Farc, were due to testify against the three men. The court was told one feared for his life while the other could not be found.

James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly are refusing to appear in court, saying they are fearful for their safety.