Christine Connor: Terror accused ‘major contributor’ to DNA on bag – BBC News

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Christine Connor Image copyright Pacemaker
Image caption Christine Connor, pictured at an earlier hearing, denies the charges against her

The woman accused of a double pipe bombing is a “major contributor” to DNA found on items near the scene, a court has heard.

Christine Connor is accused of six terrorist offences, including attempting to murder a police officer in May 2013.

The 34 year old’s address is subject to a reporting restriction.

She denies all the charges including causing an explosion likely to endanger life.

The prosecution alleges Ms Connor called the police on two different occasions with bogus 999 calls.

When officers arrived at the scene in north Belfast in the early hours of 28 May 2013, they were attacked with two pipe bombs.

After this incident, the police found two bags and a mobile phone at the scene.

On Tuesday morning at Belfast Crown Court, a forensic scientist, Dr Chris Lloyd, gave evidence to explain what had been found on those items.

Dr Lloyd told the court that a supermarket “bag for life”, had traces of DNA from Christine Connor and her mother, Briege Connor, on it.

He said he had concluded that Christine Connor was the “major contributor” to those traces.

A smaller bag also had similar traces, he said.

A Nokia phone was also recovered at the scene and this, too, had a mixture of DNA from the two women, with most of it coming from Christine Connor.

On each item, the court was told, there was a small amount of DNA from at least one or more other people, but it was too small to trace accurately who they might be.

Dr Lloyd estimated that those smaller traces may have been as little as one percent of what was found.

The court has previously heard that Christine Connor said she had dropped her phone in the area when she was startled by the pipe bombs exploding.

The trial has been adjourned until Monday 9 December.