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JAILED REAL IRA TEAM BEHIND THE EXPLOSION OF THE BBC IN WHITE CITY

There are no conclusive links between the defendants and the explosion under Hammersmith Bridge.

Member of the Real IRA car bombing team were jailed last Tuesday for between 16 and 22 years. They were responsible for a series of attacks in London and Birmingham: the car bombs at BBC Television Centre, West London, in March 2001; at Ealing Broadway, west London, five months later; and in Smallbrook, Queensway, Birmingham, in November the same year. Three of them were convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions. Robert Hulme, 23, and his brother Aiden Hulme, 25, were jailed for 20 years. Noel Maguire, 34, was sentenced to 22 years. Two other men, James McCormack, 35, and John Hannan, 19, had admitted a conspiracy charge last year and were jailed for 22 and 16 years respectively. There are no conclusive links between the defendants and a series of other attacks in Britain, including the firing of a mortar bomb at the MI6 building in August 2000, an explosion under Hammersmith Bridge, and another on a railway track in Acton, West London. This raises the possibility that other RIRA members might still be living in Britain. Scotland Yard believes the threat from the RIRA remains high, despite a number of reverses in the past couple of years.