They said the 45-year-old man was arrested following a planned search of a property in west Belfast on Thursday.<\/p>\n
They said he has been arrested on suspicion of 26 counts of arson and remains in police custody.<\/p>\n
PSNI Detective Inspector McAnee said: \u201cWe are very aware of the damaging impact these incidents are having on the community.<\/p>\n
“The disruption to network signal is affecting many people\u2019s day-to-day lives, particularly those who are more vulnerable and rely on these services for their healthcare, work and connection with others.<\/p>\n
“This remains an active investigation with multiple lines of enquiry being pursued. We are committed to catching those responsible and stopping these attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, a court heard that police believe there to be a network of conspiracy theorists behind an escalating campaign around the targeting of the masts.<\/p>\n
The details emerged after 44-year-old Darren Clarke, of no fixed abode appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court on Tuesday facing a charge of arson with intent to destroy a 5G mast belonging to the O2 network.<\/p>\n
Fire crews were called to extinguish the blaze at the telecommunications structure at Whiterock Road late on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
The court heard police spotted a man wearing dark clothing, a head torch and carrying a backpack a short time later on Divis Drive.<\/p>\n
He rode off at speed on a bicycle, but was chased into Milltown Cemetery on the Falls Road.<\/p>\n
Clarke was arrested inside the graveyard while smelling strongly of either fuel or nail polish.<\/p>\n
The hearing heard an investigating detective say the incident has been linked to a wider series of 18 arson attacks on 5G masts across west Belfast since 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe total cost of the damage\u2026 is anticipated to be in the region of \u00a34m,\u201d he disclosed.<\/p>\n
Bail was opposed amid claims Clarke could become involved in further incidents or obstruct the ongoing investigation.<\/p>\n
Clarke\u2019s barrister, Michael Halleron, argued that the alleged conspiracy views about the masts could possibly provide him with a defence at any future prosecution.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll he would have to prove is whether he had a reasonable belief at the time,\u201d Mr Halleron contended.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be complete nonsense, looking at it objectively, but it is all on the basis of his subjective belief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Refusing bail, Judge Keown cited the risks of re-offending, harm to the public and interference with the police investigation.<\/p>\n
Clarke was remanded in custody until October 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They said the 45-year-old man was arrested following a planned search of a property in west Belfast on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[6722,1144,1610,16,15,6110],"class_list":{"0":"post-417999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-christopher-leebody","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-west-belfast-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115190410301581496","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}