Darren James Service has pleaded guilty in Belfast Crown Court to two charges arising from a hoax bomb incident aimed at a peace-building event in Belfast where former Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney was scheduled to speak.
The case centres on events at the Houben Centre, Holy Cross Church on the Crumlin Road on 25 March 2022. According to the court account reported by RTÉ, a workman was threatened by two masked men and forced to transport a device in the back of his van to the venue. The centre was later evacuated after the driver alerted police, and the incident was treated as a hoax bomb alert.
Service, 45, of Ballysillan Road in north Belfast, appeared before Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday 2 September 2026. Senior defence counsel Joseph O'Keefe KC told Judge Gordon Kerr that he was seeking re-arraignment on two of the three counts Service had previously denied. Service then entered guilty pleas to hijacking a Vauxhall Vivaro van and placing an article causing a bomb hoax at the Houben Centre.
The prosecution accepted the pleas. A Crown prosecutor told the court he wanted the first count, preparation of acts of terrorism, to remain on the books of the court but not be proceeded with without further leave from the court or the Court of Appeal. Judge Kerr ordered a Multi-Agency Review Arrangements report and listed a plea and sentence hearing for 4 November 2026.
The court had previously heard that the March 2022 episode involved two masked men who hijacked the van and that the prosecution’s case was that Service drove them to the scene. The earlier hearing also heard that the incident was described by the prosecution as a terrorist offence carried out by the UVF.
RTÉ also reported that officers searched Service’s home after the incident and seized £100,000 from a safe, along with balaclavas, a replica firearm, UVF pins and luxury watches. The report said Service had been on remand for 19 months at the time of the bail hearing and that a mobile phone belonging to him had never been found.
No details were given in court on Wednesday about the circumstances surrounding the charges beyond the pleas entered. Service was released on continuing bail ahead of sentencing.
The guilty pleas bring the case closer to resolution, but the remaining count means the court process is not yet complete. The next hearing in November is expected to deal with sentence and any outstanding procedural issues.
The event date for this report is 2026-09-02.
