THE THREE MEN charged in court this morning in relation to Friday’s weapons raid in South Armagh have told police officers that they had not intended to kill with the weapons – and had actually planned to bury the arms.

Brian Sheridan, Brian Cavlan and Dominic Dynes appeared in court in Newry this morning on a variety of terrorism charges, relating to a raid on their vehicle during a joint PSNI-Garda operation in the village of Keady, in south Armagh, on Friday.

Police said the find included a “substantial amount” of machine guns and rifles, the BBC reports, and detective sergeant Ronnie Gibson told the court that he could connect the accused to the various charges they faced.

Those charges include possession of firearms, preparation for committing acts of terrorism, and possession of articles likely to be of use to terrorists.

The court heard that Dynes, 39, of Castleblayney in Co Monaghan, told police he had been instructed to “bury the weapons found in the car that he was driving and he had no intent to use them at any time to shoot or kill anybody, carry out any robbery or any show of strength.”

Sheridan, 34, of Blackwatertown, Co Armagh, and Cavlan, 35, of Dungannon, both gave similar statements.

The three men – who were dressed casually in t-shirts and jeans – did not seek bail, and have been remanded in custody until a further hearing on May 17.