A self-confessed “prepper” charged with possessing firearms in his south Belfast home was granted bail today.
Ralph Andrew James Caldwell is awaiting trial on a total of 22 charges dating back to May 2021.
These charges are 21 separate counts of possessing firearms in suspicious circumstances and one count of possessing, acquiring, importing or using a substance, namely potassium nitrate.
While on bail for these alleged offences, Caldwell was re-arrested and returned to custody on charges arising from a separate search of his Jerusalem Street home last May.
During this search, it is alleged that suspected shotguns, chemical substances and other items were seized.
Caldwell (40), who at a previous hearing was referred to by his defence as a “prepper, prepping for a cataclysmic event”, was led into the dock of Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday by prison staff.
Launching a bid to release his client on bail, Caldwell’s solicitor raised the issue of delay in the May 2021 case to Judge Patrick Lynch KC.
News Catch Up – Wednesday 5 February
Saying Caldwell is finding his time in prison as “extremely challenging”, the solicitor said that regarding the May 2021 charges, a trial date was fixed for December 2, 2024, but the hearing did not proceed then.
Referencing the current industrial action taken by criminal barristers in a dispute over legal aid, the solicitor said that due to delay, it could be “some considerable time” before Caldwell’s trial is held.
The solicitor also raised the alleged offending last May and said that in the absence of a forensic report regarding the items seized, there was no evidence to suggest “they were in fact illegal”.
A Crown barrister then addressed the issue of the forensic report regarding the items seized from Caldwell’s home in May 2024.
Telling Judge Lynch there was a “huge volume and amount of material” seized, the prosecutor said this had caused issues but that a forensic report was expected by the end of March “if not sooner”.
These items, the Crown barrister said, included suspected threaded pipes, shotgun cartridges, 3D printed guns, a bag of bullets and white powder.
Accepting there had been a delay with regard to these items and a forensic report, the prosecutor said the PSNI and forensic science are “working together”.
He told the judge “it doesn’t look like… there is an innocent purpose for this quantity of material”.
Raising concerns about Caldwell’s release, the Crown barrister said that having been granted bail for the May 2021 offences, Caldwell “then, on the prosecution case, essentially does the same activity again” which led to bail being revoked.
He added: “Prosecution say that despite the delay that there has been, there is a very significant public safety aspect to this case.”
Judge Lynch spoke of the absence of a forensic report and said he would be granting bail on the basis of delay.
Citing the need for “stringent” conditions, Judge Lynch said this included Caldwell reporting to the PSNI on a daily basis and not being in any possession of substances or suspected firearms.
The Crown barrister also asked that police be allowed to enter and inspect the inside of Caldwell’s home to ensure he was complying with bail.
This condition was objected to by both Caldwell’s solicitor and Caldwell himself. The solicitor said that while police should be entitled to enter Caldwell’s home if they “had suspicions”, a condition that they could enter at any given time was unnecessary.
He told Judge Lynch that Caldwell has “indicated that he has no intention of repeating what has occurred in the past”.
Saying he felt the condition about entering and inspecting Caldwell’s home was required, Judge Lynch said it would act as a “barrier to the defendant being tempted to indulge in this alleged activity again”.
At this point, Caldwell intervened and accused the PSNI of stealing money from his house during police searches.
Saying “I’m not happy about the PSNI coming into my house” and accusing police of “planting” items in the property, Caldwell insisted “there hasn’t been a single illegal item in my house and I wouldn’t store anything illegal, ever”.
Telling Caldwell that this claim was “ultimately for the jury to decide”, Judge Lynch said “if you don’t want bail, that’s alright with me”.
The case was concluded when Judge Lynch granted the application, imposed a series of conditions and warned Caldwell that any breaches of any of the terms of bail would result in him being returned to custody until his trial for the May 2021 offences.