AN undercover policeman saw a man accused of plotting to murder high profile loyalist terrorists hand a small parcel to another man from a car, a court has heard.

Detective Sergeant Alistair Hall said he was following suspect Antoin Duffy when he saw the cigarette-sized item being handed over from the passenger side of the vehicle on June 11 2013.

Mr Duffy is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of attempting, with three other men, to murder Johnny Adair and Sam McCrory, former leaders of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and its military wing the Ulster Freedom Fighters

He told the trial that Mr Duffy took a taxi from his home in Old Castle Road to Battlefield Road in the southside of Glasgow.

The officer told the jury that Duffy arrived there at 1.24pm and was seen speaking on his phone. Three minutes later, a car sounded its horn which was acknowledged by Antoin Duffy, he added.

The court was told that the car was a BMW X5 owned by a Gordon Brown.

DS Hall was giving evidence at the trial of Mr Duffy, 39, Martin Hughes, 36, Sands, 31 and John Gorman, 58 , who deny conspiring to murder

Duffy and Gorman also deny being part of a plan to murder the governor of Barlinnie jail Derek McGill in a car bomb attack.

Craig Convery, 37, Gary Convery, 34, and Gordon Brown, 29, deny organised crime charges.

The officer said: "Mr Duffy crossed the road and approached the front passenger window. The window was wound down and Antoin Duffy was handed a small package.." Mr Duffy later went into a pub.

The trial before judge Lady Scott continues.