Senior Sinn Fein member John Downey has been granted bail in London

A SENIOR Sinn Fein man accused of murdering four British soldiers in the 1982 IRA bombing in Hyde Park has been granted conditional bail in London.

John Downey, 61, of County Donegal, Ireland, is charged with the murders of Roy Bright, Dennis Daly, Simon Tipper and Geoffrey Young.

The four Household Cavalry members were killed as they rode through the London park to Buckingham Palace.

His trial date has been put back to 14 January 2014, the Old Bailey heard on Thursday.

Mr Downey, who was arrested at Gatwick Airport in May, also faces a further charge of intending to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.

The bomb that Mr Downey is charged with planting was the first of two that caused carnage in London on that July day.

In the first incident, a nail bomb in a blue Austin car was detonated as the Household Cavalry members made their way from their barracks in Knightsbridge to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Four men and seven horses were killed and a number of police officers and civilians were injured.

In the second explosion, less than two hours later, seven Royal Green Jackets bandsmen in a Regent’s Park bandstand were killed.