A BELFAST court has remanded a 29-year-old man in custody charged with possession of a sub-machine gun.

Vincent Kelly, 29 and from Hawthorn Street in the Clonard district of west Belfast, was arrested on the Grosvenor Road last Friday night during a covert police operation against violent dissident republicans.

At Belfast Magistrates’ Court today, Kelly was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The defendant was accused of having the gun, 50 rounds of ammunition and three magazines on Friday, November 24 after police stopped his seven seater taxi he was driving.

He made no reply when the charges were put to him.

Kelly was remanded in custody to Maghaberry prison to appear back in court via video link on December 22.

Three other men – all in their 20s – were arrested in a follow-up operation on the Springfield Road.

However, they were released without charge on Saturday following two days of questioning at the serious crime suite in Antrim.