The Five Demands

Shivers ‘has only years to live’ (UTV)
One of the men accused of the murder of two soldiers at Massereene army base in Antrim has told a court he has only years left to live.
Brian Shivers made the admission on his first day in the witness box at Belfast Crown court sitting in Antrim on Monday.
Shivers, from Sperrin Mews, Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, told the court that he had suffered from cystic fibrosis from a young age, and been told by a doctor in 2008 that he was due to die in just six years.
The 46-year-old, who alongside Colin Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, is charged with the murders of Sappers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey as well as the attempted murder of six others, also outlined his movements on the night of the shooting.
Shivers claimed that he had been invited to attend a farewell party for some foreign friends at a pub, and also insisted that he was not a member of any paramilitary organisation, and was opposed to violence.
However he did admit to attending several meetings of the republican organisation Eirigi, but insisted that he had never become a member.
Earlier on Monday the court was told that DNA evidence used as part of the prosecution case against Duffy and Shivers cannot establish all the circumstances in the case against them.
The small size of the sample used in the trial of Colin Duffy is also cause for serious concern, according to Ohio professor Dan Krane.
“What it establishes is that his DNA may be associated with the glove and it may be associated with the belt buckle of the car,” Dr Krane said.
“The presence of a DNA profile per se does not say anything about the timeframe or the circumstances under which the DNA came to be there.
“The DNA tests themselves cannot answer that type of question.
“That is left more to a court or a jury to decide what those circumstances and timeframe (are).
“The DNA tests can simply tell us that DNA was found on those items.”
Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, deny two charges of murder and the attempted murder of six others.
Professor Krane added that the sample relating to Duffy came from a mixture of DNA from two or more people, meaning there was a possibility that somebody other than Duffy came into contact with the glove.
He said Dr Mark Perlin, a prosecution witness who used an innovative DNA analysis method to link the accused to the getaway car, did not have a proper understanding of certain effects associated with the research.
Prosecution barrister Terence Mooney QC said the witness had opposed efforts to advance the use of DNA analysis.
“As soon as you lose the battle on an issue you move to another one and create more confusion,” he said.
“Throughout your career in giving evidence in forensic cases you have tried to build up impediments to the advance of DNA being used in court.”
Professor Krane disagreed.