The Judge also rejected suggestions the bomb attack was an “elaborate incident to scare or terrorise the police” and instead said it fell within a “violent dissident terrorism agenda.”
17:05, 14 May 2026Updated 17:18, 14 May 2026
Charlie Love has been charged with an attack on police in Strabane
A Co Tyrone man was today found guilty of attempting to murder police officers in Strabane in a bomb attack later claimed by the New IRA.
As he convicted Charlie Love on all four charges he faced at Belfast Crown Court, Mr Justice Fowler said he was satisfied Love was “intimately connected with the planning and execution of what was a dissident terrorist bomb attack on a police car with two officers on board
“I am satisfied that it was the defendant’s intention that police officers would be killed.”
The Judge also rejected suggestions the bomb attack was an “elaborate incident to scare or terrorise the police” and instead said it fell within a “violent dissident terrorism agenda.”
The four charges Love was convicted of arose from an attack on a police vehicle in the Mount Carmel Heights area of Strabane on the evening of Thursday November 17, 2022.
Two officers were in the area at around 11pm in an unmarked armoured Skoda Superb when they reported witnessing a flash and hearing a “massive bang.”
Love – whose DNA was located on a modified cordless drill and on a command wire located at the site of the attack – denied all the charges levelled at him and a non-jury trial was held at Belfast Crown Court.
Trial judge, Mr Justice Fowler, gave his judgement on the trial on Thursday and found Love guilty on all four charges – namely the attempted murder of ‘Officer A’ and ‘Officer B’, possessing explosives and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.
From Bridge Street in Strabane, the 31-year old was told by the senior judge that he will be sentenced for the offences in September.
Prior to this, Mr Justice Fowler said he had carefully considered all the evidence he heard during the non-jury trial.
This included the evidence of the officers in the targeted vehicle who recalled the moment their armour-plated patrol car was hit.
Giving his evidence from behind a blue curtain to conceal his identity, ‘Officer A’ said he and his colleague had gone to Mount Carmel Heights to follow up on an earlier complaint about anti-social behaviour between two neighbours.
After finding no one at home, the response officers decided to get back into the Skoda and leave the area.
‘Officer A’ said that as they proceeded to leave Mount Carmel Heights he noticed a “large ball of light in the front passenger window.
“Then there was a bang, a very loud bang. I felt something hit the side of the car. The car rocked a bit.
“The large ball of light came from bushes at a disused school. Then there was a large explosion.”
When asked to describe the sound he heard, the constable said: “It was a massive bang. I hadn’t heard anything like it before. It was quite substantial.”
Following the impact of the device, ‘Officer A’ said the “car rocked to the side” and that while driving they heard over their radio of an attack in Mount Carmel Heights and he responded to the transmission by saying: “We have been hit.”
‘Officer B’ also recalled seeing a large flash followed by an explosion and force being was felt to the left side of the vehicle.
The officers then returned to Strabane PSNI station where they checked the vehicle for damage to the passenger side of the vehicle.
In the aftermath of the incident the area including waste ground was searched and several items were removed for forensic examination.
Included was a cordless drill which the Crown said was a “trigger mechanism for the device” and was found lying in grass.
Love’s DNA was found on the drill and on a galvanised post, whilst the presence of the explosive RDX was also located at the scene.
He was arrested on the Derry Road in Strabane the day after the bomb attack and over the course of four interviews, he gave a ‘no comment’ response.
He was released on November 20, 2022 but was further arrested on December 13, 2022 when the DNA results were confirmed.
During the course of further interviews, Love again refused to answer any questions.
He subsequently provided a prepared statement in which he claimed that he was approached by a male involved with Saoradh – the political wing of the New IRA – on November 17, 2022.
In his statement, Love said this man asked him to do ‘a favour’ which was to take a drill in a bag to waste ground at Mount Carmel Heights.
Defence submissions on behalf of Love suggested the Crown had failed to prove that by bringing the drill to the specified location he had an intention to kill officers A and B.
It was also suggested by the defence that no-one would have known the police would be in Mount Carmel Heights on the night of the attack.
Mr Justice Fowler noted that Love refused to answer police questions at interview and declined to give evidence during the trial.
He said a “sensible explanation for silence” could be that Love had “no answers that could stand up to scrutiny.”
Also considered by the Judge was Love’s admission that he was in the area of the explosion on the night in question and that at the relevant time he did not have his phone with him.
Convicting Love on all four charges, Mr Justice Fowler said he was satisfied that Love was “intimately connected” in the planning and execution the bomb attack and was at the scene of the explosion when the bomb was detonated.
He added he was satisfied Love’s acts were “more than merely preparatory” and was satisfied Love’s intention was to kill.
Appearing alongside Love in the dock of Belfast Crown Court was his 30-year old partner Symone Murphy, from the same address at Bridge Street in Strabane.
She stood trial on a charge of withholding information which might assist terrorists on dates between November 16, 2022 and March 24, 2023.
When her phone was seized and examined, messages indicated she knew her partner was not at home during the relevant time – and when she was later spoken to by police about the explosion, Murphy didn’t answer their questions about Love’s whereabouts on the evening of November 17.
As with Love, she also declined to give evidence at the trial.
Defence put forward on Murphy’s behalf indicated that all she knew was that Love was not at home on the evening of the explosion.
Acquitting her of the single charge she faced, Mr Justice Fowler said he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Murphy knew Love’s whereabouts.
The judge also said he has taken into consideration Murphy’s clear criminal record.
Following his judgement, Mr Justice Fowler told Murphy she was free to go whilst he remanded Love back into custody ahead of September’s sentencing.
Speaking following her client’s acquittal, Sophie McClintock, a Senior associate at Phoenix Law, welcomed the verdict and said “Ms Murphy should never have been prosecuted.
“She has endured a long and distressing trial process in circumstances where the case against her was weak and fundamentally flawed.
“There was simply no evidence capable of justifying this prosecution.
“Ms Murphy has always maintained her innocence and her acquittal finally vindicates her. This is a welcome and just outcome which clears her name.”
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