A man described by his defence lawyer as a "nerd" and "a trainspotter" has appeared in a Northern Ireland court on terrorism charges.
Ryan Lavery is accused of gathering information likely to be of use to terrorists. The 27-year-old, who was arrested in Downpatrick, Co Down, on Wednesday, is accused of compiling photographs of cars going in and out of the Ballykinler army base.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland alleges that the images were found on his computer at his home on the Model Farm estate.
Lavery is also charged with having a document likely to be of use to terrorists – a list of vehicle registration numbers found at a house he used to live in overlooking the entrance to the barracks.
His defence solicitor argued that his client was "a trainspotter, a loner, an anorak, a nerd with no friends" and, if he was put beside an airport, "he would take pictures of planes".
He added that the accused's father works at Ballykinler and his client had photographs taken of him holding a machine gun at an open day at the base last year.
District Judge Mark Hamill refused bail because of a risk of further offences being committed, and said it was up to a high court judge to decide whether Lavery was a trainspotter. That bail application is to be heard at the high court next week.
