A Royal Marine has appeared in court accused of terrorism offences related to dissident republican paramilitary activities in Northern Ireland.

Ciaran Maxwell, 30, of Exminster in Devon, is accused of stashing explosives and weapons in purpose-built caches in England and Northern Ireland. He also allegedly compiled a library of terrorism documents, including instructions on how to make explosives and tactics used by terrorist organisations.

He appeared in custody at Westminster magistrates court on Friday.

Maxwell, wearing a grey tracksuit and flanked by two plain-clothed officers in the dock, stood up to confirm his details. He has not yet entered any plea to the charges against him and was remanded in police custody.

The case was adjourned until Monday to give the police more time to investigate.

Under the terrorism charge, Maxwell is accused of “creating and maintaining hides” in England and Northern Ireland to store explosives. It is also alleged that between 1 January 2011 and 24 August 2016 he manufactured explosive substances and constructed explosive devices.

He is further accused of carrying out research resulting in the creation of a library of documents likely to be useful to someone committing or preparing an act of terrorism – specifically information regarding “the manufacture of explosive substances, the construction of explosive devices and tactics used by terrorist organisations”.



Maxwell is also accused of obtaining an image of an adapted Police Service of Northern Ireland pass card and items of PSNI uniform.



He was arrested on 24 August. Searches have been carried out near his home town of Larne, County Antrim, and in Devon as part of an operation involving the Metropolitan police, the PSNI and MI5.