PATRICK McKinley, cleared at the Old Bailey on Tuesday of involvement in the 1996 IRA London Docklands bombing , had been living in Bury for several months before his trial.

A garage owner from Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland, Mr McKinley (34) had been living with relatives in a semi-detached property in Brandlesholme Road for up to six months.

His aunt and her husband live at the address with one of his cousins who confirmed that he had been living with the family but has now returned to Ireland following his acquittal.

"The decision went as we expected it would," he added.

At the end of the four-week trial, Mr McKinley was cleared of any involvement in the February 1996 bombing which ended an 18-month IRA ceasefire and left two people dead.

Judge Mr Justice Blofeld directed a jury to find Mr McKinley not guilty because there was insufficient evidence against him.

He said it would be wrong for the case to continue. Mr McKinley's barrister, Michael Mansfield QC, had earlier submitted that his client had no case to answer.

It was alleged that Mr McKinley had been involved in converting a lorry into a bomb transporter.

He denied a charge of conspiring to cause an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property in the United Kingdom or Ireland between October 30, 1995 and February 10, 1996.

London police informed colleagues in Bury that Mr McKinley was living in the town while awaiting trial.

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