James Anthony Oliver Corry sentenced to four years for part in bombing of British army barracks in 1996

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A Northern Irish man has begun a four-year prison sentence in Germany for his part in a Provisional IRA mortar bomb attack on a British army base in the country more than two decades ago.

James Anthony Oliver Corry was convicted on Wednesday of attempted murder in relation to bombing of Quebec barracks near Osnabrück in June 1996.



The attack took place just months after the Provisional IRA broke its 1994 ceasefire with the Docklands bombing in east London which killed two people and left more the 100 others injured.



On 28 June 1996, three mortar shells were fired into the army base in north-west Germany, damaging buildings but causing no casualties.



Corey, 48, from Belfast, was extradited from the Republic of Ireland last December to face charges.



He confessed during the trial in July, and told the court he was no longer involved in the IRA.



German authorities arrested him last December at Frankfurt airport after his extradition from Ireland.



If Corry had be convicted of a similar offence in Northern Ireland he would be freed under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, which in 1998 gave a de facto amnesty to paramilitary prisoners. That amnesty does not extend to foreign jurisdictions.



In a previous hearing in July, Corry’s lawyer read out a statementthat confirmed he had helped install the mortar.



His lawyer said Corry’s aim was not to kill as many British soldiers as possible, but simply to demonstrate that they were not safe even outside the UK.



Corry has refused to name his accomplices in the attack.

