http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6193169.stm"...Loyalist Michael Stone's planned incursion on a crucial meeting of Stormont politicians was "performance art", his defence lawyer has claimed."
Yes it would, because he would be laying with his face spread across the wall after the clerk pulled a Sawn off on him.unnamednewbie13 wrote:
How on Earth would he get away with that defense? Someone in the US could shoot a 7-11 clerk in the face with a water gun spray-painted black to look realistic...and then call it performance art. Think that'd save them from jail?
He is already a Martyr to loyalists for this:DoctorFruitloop wrote:
If the explosives weren't viable one could almost think he was trying to get the forces to shoot him and then be viewed as a martyr maybe.
Last edited by DoctorFruitloop (2006-12-21 03:05:06)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7729744.stmLoyalist killer Michael Stone has been found guilty of trying to murder Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams at Stormont in November 2006.
He was also convicted of seven other charges, including possession of weapons and explosive devices.
Stone had denied the charges, claiming the incident was performance art. However, a judge at Belfast Crown Court said this was "wholly unconvincing".
The convicted murderer will be sentenced at a later date.
Stone had attempted to enter Stormont on the day Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were due to be nominated as Northern Ireland's new first and deputy first ministers.
The trial heard he pointed an imitation gun at a female security guard, ignited an improvised explosive device in a flight bag and threw it some yards from him.
The bag contained explosive fireworks, flammable liquids, a butane gas canister and fuses. It failed to explode.
He was found to have seven nail bombs which the court heard were capable of causing death or serious injury to anyone in their proximity.
Stone also had three knives, a hatchet and a garrotte.
'Wholly unreliable'
Mr Justice Deeny said Stone had been "a wholly unreliable and unconvincing witness whose testimony… is wholly undeserving of belief".
He concluded Stone had not merely prepared the explosive devices and gone to Stormont estate, but had "stepped over a line by entering the building and igniting the bag which was a necessary part of his plan to kill the Sinn Fein leaders".
He had therefore gone beyond acts that were merely preparatory.
The judge also noted Stone had repeatedly told police when arrested that his intention was to kill Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, including that he would have slit their throats if he had got close enough.
The defendant had also written letters to two journalists, which he posted on his way to Stormont, saying this was his intention.
In 2000, Stone was released early from a life sentence under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
He had been jailed for a 1988 gun and grenade attack on the republican funeral at Milltown Cemetery of three IRA members shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar.
Three men were killed in that attack and Stone also admitted three other murders.