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| Man charged with attempted murder in Belfast in 1977 | Man charged with attempted murder in Belfast in 1977 |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A man has appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a prison officer in north Belfast in 1977. | |
| Michael Burns, 64, of Cliftonville Avenue in north Belfast, spoke only to confirm he understood the charges. | |
| The court heard that the intended target of the June 1977 murder attempt had fired his personal protection weapon at his attackers. | |
| A detective said blood and fingerprints found at the scene of the crime had been found to belong to the defendant. | |
| On 28 June 1977, two men on a hijacked motorbike pulled up at the prison officer's house and one of them pointed a gun at the officer, the court was told. | |
| The officer fired shots at them with his protection weapon. | |
| One man was later convicted of the attempted murder. The court heard that Mr Burns left Northern Ireland after the attack. | |
| The detective also said police had interviewed the defendant in relation to the murder of a prison officer in the 1970s and had sent a report about that to the PPS. | |
| The police and prosecution opposed bail on the grounds that there was a risk the accused might leave the jurisdiction, but a defence lawyer said Mr Burns suffered from ill health and had been living openly in Northern Ireland for the last 15 years. | |
| The district judge granted bail because of the defendant's health and because the accused had not been convicted of any crime since 1977. | |
| He will appear in court next month. |