Man appears in court following Derry-Londonderry bomb hoax

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By Cate McCurry, Press Association

A man has appeared in court charged with communicating false information causing a bomb hoax after suspect devices were found outside houses in Londonderry on Sunday morning.

Keith McClenaghan, with an address in Moss Park, Shantallow in Derry, was also charged with two counts of possessing home-made explosives with intent to endanger life.

The 39-year-old faces further charges of placing an article causing a bomb hoax at two separate addresses in the city and four counts of communicating false information causing a bomb hoax.

Residents in several properties were evacuated while an area close to the city's police station in Strand Road was among those affected by the disruption.

No link to terrorism or the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in the city on Thursday evening is being suggested.

During Sunday's alert a section of Strand Road was closed to traffic.

The suspicious objects discovered in both areas were examined by ammunition technical officers who declared them to be non-viable devices.

Defence solicitor Patrick Madden told Derry Magistrates' Court that McClenaghan wanted to apologise to the people of the city for causing disruption.

Mr Madden also said that no detonators were involved in the incident.

He did not make a bail application for his client.

District Judge Mark McGarrity adjourned the case to May 16.

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