MI5 chief's address 'on IRA hit-list'

A LIST of military and civilian targets including the head of MI5, Stella Rimington, and Virginia Bottomley, the Secretary of State for Health, was found at the flat where two men accused of IRA terrorist offences were picked up, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

John Bevan, for the prosecution, said papers and notebooks containing intelligence material were found during a police search of the flat in Stoke Newington, north London, where Patrick Hayes lived.

Mrs Bottomley's name and home telephone number were in a notebook which also had the names of a minister of state, a past head of the Prime Minister's policy unit, a retired senior civil servant and the director of British Nuclear Fuels.

Mrs Rimington's address had been written on a cutting from a newspaper about her.

The court was told that police also found 10kg of Semtex explosive, cut into six blocks of various sizes. Two had holes in, ready for the insertion of detonators. They also found 16 timing devices and eight detonators.

Also in the flat, police found the rental agreement for a lock- up garage in north London, which was found to contain 567kg of home-made explosives and the pipes needed to detonate it.

Mr Hayes, 41, and Jan Taylor, 51, a former soldier, deny 11 charges, including causing explosions, conspiracy to cause explosions, possessing Semtex, ammonium nitrate explosives and possessing guns.

The case continues today.