A DONEGAL man charged with murdering four British soldiers in one of the most notorious IRA atrocities appeared in court in London today (Friday).
John Anthony Downey, of Ards, Creeslough, is accused of being responsible for the 1982 Hyde Park bomb.
Downey (61) appeared in the Old Bailey where administrative details in the case were dealt with.
He is accused of being responsible for the car bomb on South Carriage Drive in Hyde Park which killed four soldiers as they rode to the changing of the guard ceremony in Buckingham Palace.
He is charged with the murders of four members of the Royal Household Cavalry and also an explosives offence.
Roy John Bright, Dennis Richard Anthony Daly, Simon Andrew Tipper and Geoffrey Vernon Young were killed along with seven horses when a nail bomb exploded on July 20, 1982, as they rode from their barracks.
Downey was arrested at Gatwick Airport on May 19 and charged by the Metropolitan police a few days later with the four murders and another charge of causing an explosion likely to endanger life.
Downey was previously granted bail subject to a series of conditions including providing £55,000 of bail money, wearing an electronic tag, living at a specified address with a curfew and reporting to a police station every day. He did not speak while in court apart from confirming his name. His trial is set to begin on January 14.