A series of Twitter messages allegedly exchanged between loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and the account of a Sinn Féin member in advance of a Northern Assembly committee meeting were aired in court on Tuesday.
The evidence included a message allegedly sent by Mr Bryson which said “Who would ever have thought it, me and SF working together as the DUP squirm! Unreal!”
Mr Bryson is one of three men currently on trial at Belfast Crown Court on charges arising from a meeting of the Assembly’s Finance and Personnel Committee.
In September 2015, the committee was investigating how Northern Ireland property loans were handled by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) and on September 23rd of that year, Mr Bryson gave evidence at the meeting.
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During the session, he named a number of people, including the DUP’s Peter Robinson, who he claimed would benefit financially from the Nama deal.
It is the crown’s case that the rules of this committee – chaired by Sinn Féin’s Daithi McKay – were subverted to cause political embarrassment to Mr Robinson who, in September 2015, had occupied the position of first minister.
The crown also alleges that due to messages exchanged between Mr Bryson and the two Sinn Féin members Mr McKay and Thomas Gerard O’Hara prior to the meeting, there was manipulation of how this evidence was presented.
Mr Bryson (35), of Rosepark, Donaghadee, Co Down, and Mr O’Hara (41), of Lisnahunshin Road, Cullybackey, Co Antrim, have both been charged that on dates between September 1st and 24th, 2015, they “conspired together and with Daithí McKay to commit an offence of misconduct in a public office”.
Mr McKay (43), of Loughan Road, Dunnamanagh, Co Tyrone, has been charged with misconduct in a public office on September 23rd, 2015.
All three defendants have denied the charges levelled against them.
During today’s hearing, a series of messages which the crown say were exchanged between Mr Bryson and Mr McKay, and also between Mr Bryson and the Twitter account of Mr O’Hara, were aired.
The messages were presented in court as screenshots from Twitter that were sent and received before the committee session was held.
In the alleged messages between Mr Bryson and Mr McKay, Mr Bryson talked of the need for “transparency” when giving his evidence, with Mr McKay reminding Mr Bryson to keep within the committee’s terms of reference.
The non-jury trial, now in its second week, also heard of a series of messages allegedly exchanged between Mr Bryson and the Twitter account of Mr O’Hara the day before the committee meeting was held.
Messages from Mr O’Hara’s account to Mr Bryson include “A wee suggestion for you ... when talking about Robinson, refer to him as Person A. Say what you have to say about him, referring to him as Person A, then in your final line say Person A is Peter Robinson, MLA. It means the committee cannot interrupt you and it means that you don’t have to say Robbo’s name until the very last second then it’s job done.”
In a further exchange, a message sent from Mr O’Hara’s account told Mr Bryson, “Read the top table and don’t snap back at the DUP. Kill then with kindness. Be professional and courteous.”
Mr Bryson is alleged to have replied, “Who would ever have thought it, me and SF working together as the DUP squirm! Unreal” to which the account of Mr O’Hara replied, “You will be trending by teatime, lol.”
The non-jury trial heard evidence from a digital expert who was asked to examine the screenshots.
This expert ruled that while there was no evidence to suggest they were not genuine, he could not rule out that they had been fabricated or modified.
Also called to give evidence was high-profile solicitor Paul Tweed.
Under cross-examination by Mr Bryson’s barrister, John Larkin KC, Mr Tweed was questioned about a book written by Mr Bryson on the sale of Nama’s property portfolio.
Entitled Cerberus The Three-Headed Dog and sold on Amazon, Mr Tweed was asked about legal correspondence regarding the book and its contents and whether any legal action was ultimately taken.
Declining to answer, Mr Tweed said to do so would breach “client confidentiality”.
