Charges withdrawn against man accused of pointing gun at Orange parade
During a mention that lasted seconds at Antrim Magistrates Court, a prosecuting lawyer said the PPS were withdrawing all charges against 34-year-old Christopher Donaldson.
Donaldson, whose address has been made the subject of a reporting restriction, was not at court having been excused but he had faced five charges arising from an incident on July 8 last year.
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Hide AdThe 34-year-old was accused of having an imitation AK47 assault rifle with intent to cause fear of violence, doing a provocative act by “chanting sectarian slogans,” improper use of a communication network to send a message which he knew to be false, using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace and possessing a single round of ammunition in suspicious circumstances.
The charges arose after a video emerged of a man appearing to pretend to fire at an Orange parade in Randalstown.
A second video uploaded to the same Facebook page showed a man positioning himself close to those on parade before making offensive remarks and chanting pro-IRA slogans.
Previously the court heard that Donaldson accepted that it was him in the videos and further that he had been subjected to online threats against his safety.
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Hide AdAfter the court hearing a PPS spokesperson told the News Letter: “The PPS received an investigation file from police relating to this matter on 28 November 2018. Following a careful review it was concluded that there was insufficient evidence to prove the criminal intent required to prosecute any potential charge.
“A no prosecution decision was issued on 4 January 2019 and the police charges were withdrawn in court today.”