A Royal Marine from Northern Ireland has been charged with terror offences and has arrived at Westminster Magistrates Court.

Ciarán Maxwell has been charged with one offence of terrorism, one of fraud and one of possessing cannabis. He was arrested in Somerset last week after searches in Larne and Devon.

The 30-year-old’s arrest was understood to be connected to the discovery of two arms dumps in County Antrim earlier this year. He is charged with manufacturing explosives, making devices and storing them in barrels in hides in England and Northern Ireland.

The charges include obtaining articles for use in terrorism, specifically chemicals and components to make bombs and an “image of an adapted PSNI pass card”. He is accused of carrying out research resulting in “the creation of a library of documents” likely to be of use to terrorists. The offences are alleged to have taken place between 1 January 2011 and the day of his arrest in Somerset, 24 August 2016.

Mr Maxwell, from Larne in County Antrim, was taken to a West Country police station in Somerset last Wednesday. He was transferred to a London police station last Thursday and questioned on suspicion of being involved in the preparation for acts of terrorism under Section Five of the Terrorism Act.