A WOMAN from Belfast has been sentenced to four years in custody after being found guilty of terrorism-related offences.
Fionnghuala Mary Teresa Dympna Perry, 65, was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court today.
In March, she was found guilty of collecting or making a record of information likely to be of use to a terrorist, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.
The incriminating information was found during a search of Perry's home on February 20, 2018.
Coded notes
"During the search, officers from our Terrorism Investigation Unit found handwritten notes, on cigarette papers, hidden inside a perfume box," said Detective Chief Inspector Hamilton of the PSNI.
"The notes, which were partially in code, were seized for forensic analysis."
The notes contained the initials or names of a number of individuals who had been questioned by police following a significant firearms find in the Ballymurphy area of West Belfast in September 2015.
Police assessed that the notes amounted to a debriefing by dissident republicans into the seizure and how police became aware of the items.
"It's believed this information could be of use to the New IRA, by helping them understand how those individuals had been identified," added DCI Hamilton.
The judge rejected Perry's claims that she did not understand the contents of the notes and only had them in possession due to her role as a journalist.
See More: Dissident Republicans, PSNI
