Two men who admitted making false bomb hoax calls at the homes of senior Sinn Fein members have avoided prison.
Finton Geraghty and Christopher Maxwell were each handed an enhanced combination order consisting of 100 hours of unpaid work and three years on probation.
Geraghty (46), of Ivy Hill in Lisburn, Co Antrim, pleaded guilty to a charge that he communicated a false bomb warning to a priest.
It was claimed devices were present at the homes of Sinn Féin MP John Finucane and councillor Seanna Walsh.
Co-accused Maxwell (47), from Blackstaff Mews in Belfast, pleaded guilty to a similar offence.
A member of staff at the Sinn Féin office at Connolly House on the Falls Road was told of a device.
Maxwell further pleaded guilty to placing an article causing a bomb hoax at Connolly House.
The pair also pleaded guilty to a charge that they communicated false information to a PSNI operator that a device was present at the Avoniel Leisure Centre in east Belfast.
Judge Gordon Kerr KC said that although he was dealing with serious offences which would normally attract custodial sentences, the prosecution had said that there was “no catastrophic disruption”.
He noted that Maxwell had “an appalling record of over 230 previous criminal convictions but he has nothing on his record of a similar sinister or terrorist nature”.
The judge said that at the time of his offending Geraghty was in breach of a suspended sentence
Imposing the enhanced combination order, Judge Kerr said both defendants were equally culpable.
