ut it was revealed that the PSNI would not pay for overtime so that an officer involved in the investigation could say the same hearing about the information gathered in the case. A development that the judge said he was “absolutely surprised” when he heard. “This is absolutely ridiculous,” he said. David Morel was charged with three offenses allegedly committed a few days ago at the Balisali estate in Coleren. In addition to possessing a firearm with the intent to endanger life, he is also accused of possessing a shotgun and five cartridges under suspicious circumstances. Morrell appeared at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court via video link from police. A police officer said police searched the 44-year-old’s Ballysally estate and when told what they were looking for, “informed them that there was a gun in the kitchen, in a holster, under some pillows”. The officer said that instead of a regular double-barreled shotgun, the confiscated weapon was a fully loaded firearm, adapted to carry five instead of three rounds. Morrell claims he found the gun in a bag as he was returning from work the day before and was “panicked” when he saw what it was. The court was informed that CCTV footage would be seized to investigate the allegations and the weapon would be examined forensically to determine if it was linked to paramilitary-type attacks. Disagreeing with the guarantee, police said they believe the gun is linked to the North Antrim UDA and given its seizure, there could be retaliation by this group against Morrell. Also, many faithful paramilitary flags mentioned in the UDA and UFF were unveiled at his home. After a cross-examination, the police admitted that Morrell had been arrested for membership in a banned organization, but was released unconditionally in connection with it. “It’s a strange case,” said one defense attorney in court. The court was told that neither Morrell’s fingerprints nor his DNA would be found on the weapon – a weapon the judge described as unusual and a weapon he wanted to know more about alleged links to the UDA and information history. But the officer who gave the testimony said: “It is not my investigation, so I’m sorry, but I do not know… .the team that dealt with it could not send an investigator.” The policeman then expressed his surprise that given the successful nature of the search operation “they would not pay overtime for a senior officer” to appear in court. “I’m surprised, absolutely surprised,” the judge said. “I do not know the background that goes to the investigation, but I have to deal with the data and since the police are not able to do that, I give a guarantee αν .if there was a D.O. (investigator) before me there could have been a different result “. Morrell, whose full address was not disclosed to the court, was identified electronically, ordered to live in Ballycastle, to have a curfew and to report to police twice a week. The case was postponed to later this month.
