1 guilty, 1 acquitted in Real IRA killing

ANTRIM, Northern Ireland, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- A judge in Northern Ireland acquitted a veteran Irish nationalist Friday in the killing of two British soldiers while finding another man guilty.

The judge said DNA evidence tied Brian Shivers, 46, to the double killing in 2009 at Massereene barracks in Antrim, The Guardian reported. But he found that Colin Duffy's DNA on items in a car believed to have been used in the crime did not prove he was involved.

Patrick Azimkar, 21, of London, and Mark Quinsey, 23, of Birmingham, were shot as they got a pizza from a delivery driver at the barracks entrance. They were scheduled to leave for Afghanistan within hours.

The killing has been blamed on the Real IRA, a dissident Republican group that has refused to accept the peace process in Northern Ireland.

The trial was held in Antrim Crown Court using the so-called Diplock procedure, with Judge Anthony Hart deciding the verdict without a jury.

Duffy, 44, was convicted of killing an Ulster Defense Regiment member but won an appeal in 1996. In 1997, he was charged with killing two police officers, but a prosecutor dropped the case, finding insufficient evidence to acquit.