PLEDGED TO HUNTING DOWN THE BOMBERS
Pledged to hunting down
By Sharon O'Neill
Chief Reporter
WITH no-one yet convicted of carrying out the Omagh Atrocity and the first police investigation having so spectacularly failed, the new man overseeing the latest probe would seem to have an unenviable task.
Not so insists Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid who is happy to be judged on his results despite the belief of many that those responsible will never be jailed.
"Judge me by results, judge me by people in court or, if I can't get people in court, some independent review saying this was a really well-run investigation but just couldn't find the evidence - that is what I want to be judged by," he says.
In the aftermath of the mass murder police chiefs on both sides of the border pledged to hunt down the Real IRA bombers. Hopes were high that the joint investigation - the largest of its kind in Ireland -would yield results and quickly.
From an early stage it was reported that the identities of the bombers were known to the authorities but that there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges.
"This was always going to be a complicated investigation as it involves two countries and a situation where, we believe, the people who planted it (the bomb) weren't even in this jurisdiction. They had already left and were in another jurisdiction," Mr Kinkaid says.
"You had two police forces trying to do an investigation of a terrorist organisation who were always going to be very adept in terms of covering their actions.
"From our perspective it is a great disappointment that we haven't been able to bring anybody to justice here in the north in relation to the attack.
"It has left a situation where the families have gone for a civil action. It wouldn't be the way I would like to see things happening; I would like to have seen criminal prosecution proceedings. The families are perfectly entitled to take a civil action.
"As a senior police officer I wish we had been able to bring people to justice at an earlier date."
Only one person, Colm Murphy, has been charged in connection with the bombing that killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured hundreds of others, some maimed for life.
No-one has been charged with murder.
What went wrong? Behind the repeated public pledges to catch the bombers lay a shocking reality only unearthed when the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan investigated claims by double agent Kevin Fulton that he tipped off his police handlers three days before the Omagh attack that the Real IRA was preparing a 'major' bomb destined for Northern Ireland.
An internal police review of the investigation concluded that the inquiry was littered with errors and listed over 200 recommendations.
In her damning report Mrs O'Loan said relatives were let down by a "failure of leadership, poor judgment and a lack of urgency" - an accusation strenuously denied by the then chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who later admitted that mistakes were made in the investigation.
The fall-out from the controversy was immense and two senior Mersey officers were drafted in - one by the Policing Board and the other by the police - to 'quality' assure the investigation.
"When you look at the internal review that was carried out it highlighted a number of things that could have been done differently and could have been done better, that's clearly correct," Mr Kinkaid says.
"There were aspects of the investigation, for example in relation to the management of information, that clearly were disappointing.
"I can't give explanations for some of the things that happened in 1988 or 1999, I wasn't in charge of the investigation or even working in north region at the time. Many of the detectives currently working with me were not on the investigation at that time.
"My responsibilities relate to when I was placed in charge of this team so what I have to do is use the material that the ombudsman highlighted, use the material that came from the chief superintendent's review of Omagh and any other material I have from other sources to try and ensure this investigation is run in a professional manner."
The Garda is also in the dock and a three-man panel is probing allegations by Detective Sergeant John White, who claims that information passed to Garda Special Branch was not passed onto the RUC.
It has been alleged that an informer told his Garda handler that dissident republicans asked him to steal a car for a Real IRA operation and a day before the Omagh attack alleged they had got the car from another thief.
It was further claimed that the information was passed onto Garda Special Branch but allegedly not relayed to the RUC.
The claims by Kevin Fulton and Garda detective John White once again bring into sharp focus the murky world of intelligence gathering.
"There were issues raised about Kevin Fulton's evidence. We have told the family we are looking again at the issues relating to Kevin Fulton," Mr Kinkaid says.
"Information has come into my possession in relation to a Garda officer. The issues relating to the information that Kevin Fulton gave prior to the bomb and the issues relating to the allegations made by Sgt White prior to the bomb are both matters we are examining."
Omagh relatives recently held their first meeting with the new PSNI team which included the newly-appointed senior investigating officer Norman Baxter and Mr Kinkaid, Assistant Chief Constable for north region.
Families welcomed the chance to meet the newly-appointed senior officers but given the distrust arising from the revelations over the investigation, the jury is still out.
Mr Kinkaid, who has signed an affidavit submitted to the High Court contradicting part of a former senior officer's statement of response to the bombing, is candid about the mistakes of the past.
"Personally I think the relatives have, in many ways, been victimised twice," he says.
"They were victimised the first time, when the bomb occurred, and they suffered terribly. I believe, in many ways, they have been victimised a second time by the way the criminal justice system hasn't been able to deliver a prosecution.
"I don't think the criminal justice system, including police, has given a service afterwards and the multitude of reports that came out and all that stuff, it reinforces the problems they are facing."
The new team is reviewing the investigation and pursuing a number of lines of inquiry, which Mr Kinkaid declined to disclose.
"We are looking and investigating certain lines of inquiry. We are gathering evidence," he says.
"Like all investigations there comes a time when we feel it is sufficient to arrest or to interview people. A judgment call has to be made at what stage you do that.
"You go too early, you show your hand and you haven't enough. That is what we are currently doing, with our Merseyside colleagues, looking at all the various lines of inquiry, looking back over periods of stuff.
"Obviously with technical developments there are things that we can do in this year that we couldn't do in 1998. Forensic wise things move very fast and you can go back and look at things.
"I have spoken to the families and tried to explain the various lines of inquiry to them and to explain why you have to build a case."
The Police Ombudsman has said the chances of catching the bombers have been severely hampered by the seriously flawed investigation.
"As long as I am in charge of this I am personally guaranteeing that this will be an enthusiastic and professional investigation," Mr Kinkaid insists.
"We will endeavour to ensure that every possible line of inquiry will be followed.
"I will try and make sure that there will be no situations where people try to put blocks in my investigation in other parts of the criminal justice or police system. I am convinced of the convictions and drive of the team. I think the Merseyside officer who has come in has brought in a new breath of life, some new ideas, a new approach to looking at the same things. The (team) is very determined as well, not to review this, but to catch the bombers. That combination will show.
"I never guarantee success in murders. You can't guarantee success in murders. What you can guarantee though is to work very hard to get a result.
"Here is another point, if I charge one of these people, we are still going for the rest."
Mr Kinkaid will, for the first time, brief the Policing Board on any progress in the investigation in a private meeting on August 22. With confidence in the inquiry at an all time low Mr Kinkaid is anxious to rebuild bridges with relatives.
"I think it is important we gain their confidence," he says.
"I had a long meeting with them in Omagh, the contents of which are completely confidential. I am not naive enough to think that having one meeting with people is going to make them feel stronger about us.
"There was, hopefully, a start made at the meeting but I believe it is going to take some time for a good working relationship between us.
"I have asked them to judge us over the next six-to-nine months, by what we do and what we achieve."
By Sharon O'Neill
Chief Reporter
WITH no-one yet convicted of carrying out the Omagh Atrocity and the first police investigation having so spectacularly failed, the new man overseeing the latest probe would seem to have an unenviable task.
Not so insists Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid who is happy to be judged on his results despite the belief of many that those responsible will never be jailed.
"Judge me by results, judge me by people in court or, if I can't get people in court, some independent review saying this was a really well-run investigation but just couldn't find the evidence - that is what I want to be judged by," he says.
In the aftermath of the mass murder police chiefs on both sides of the border pledged to hunt down the Real IRA bombers. Hopes were high that the joint investigation - the largest of its kind in Ireland -would yield results and quickly.
From an early stage it was reported that the identities of the bombers were known to the authorities but that there wasn't enough evidence to bring charges.
"This was always going to be a complicated investigation as it involves two countries and a situation where, we believe, the people who planted it (the bomb) weren't even in this jurisdiction. They had already left and were in another jurisdiction," Mr Kinkaid says.
"You had two police forces trying to do an investigation of a terrorist organisation who were always going to be very adept in terms of covering their actions.
"From our perspective it is a great disappointment that we haven't been able to bring anybody to justice here in the north in relation to the attack.
"It has left a situation where the families have gone for a civil action. It wouldn't be the way I would like to see things happening; I would like to have seen criminal prosecution proceedings. The families are perfectly entitled to take a civil action.
"As a senior police officer I wish we had been able to bring people to justice at an earlier date."
Only one person, Colm Murphy, has been charged in connection with the bombing that killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, and injured hundreds of others, some maimed for life.
No-one has been charged with murder.
What went wrong? Behind the repeated public pledges to catch the bombers lay a shocking reality only unearthed when the Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan investigated claims by double agent Kevin Fulton that he tipped off his police handlers three days before the Omagh attack that the Real IRA was preparing a 'major' bomb destined for Northern Ireland.
An internal police review of the investigation concluded that the inquiry was littered with errors and listed over 200 recommendations.
In her damning report Mrs O'Loan said relatives were let down by a "failure of leadership, poor judgment and a lack of urgency" - an accusation strenuously denied by the then chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan, who later admitted that mistakes were made in the investigation.
The fall-out from the controversy was immense and two senior Mersey officers were drafted in - one by the Policing Board and the other by the police - to 'quality' assure the investigation.
"When you look at the internal review that was carried out it highlighted a number of things that could have been done differently and could have been done better, that's clearly correct," Mr Kinkaid says.
"There were aspects of the investigation, for example in relation to the management of information, that clearly were disappointing.
"I can't give explanations for some of the things that happened in 1988 or 1999, I wasn't in charge of the investigation or even working in north region at the time. Many of the detectives currently working with me were not on the investigation at that time.
"My responsibilities relate to when I was placed in charge of this team so what I have to do is use the material that the ombudsman highlighted, use the material that came from the chief superintendent's review of Omagh and any other material I have from other sources to try and ensure this investigation is run in a professional manner."
The Garda is also in the dock and a three-man panel is probing allegations by Detective Sergeant John White, who claims that information passed to Garda Special Branch was not passed onto the RUC.
It has been alleged that an informer told his Garda handler that dissident republicans asked him to steal a car for a Real IRA operation and a day before the Omagh attack alleged they had got the car from another thief.
It was further claimed that the information was passed onto Garda Special Branch but allegedly not relayed to the RUC.
The claims by Kevin Fulton and Garda detective John White once again bring into sharp focus the murky world of intelligence gathering.
"There were issues raised about Kevin Fulton's evidence. We have told the family we are looking again at the issues relating to Kevin Fulton," Mr Kinkaid says.
"Information has come into my possession in relation to a Garda officer. The issues relating to the information that Kevin Fulton gave prior to the bomb and the issues relating to the allegations made by Sgt White prior to the bomb are both matters we are examining."
Omagh relatives recently held their first meeting with the new PSNI team which included the newly-appointed senior investigating officer Norman Baxter and Mr Kinkaid, Assistant Chief Constable for north region.
Families welcomed the chance to meet the newly-appointed senior officers but given the distrust arising from the revelations over the investigation, the jury is still out.
Mr Kinkaid, who has signed an affidavit submitted to the High Court contradicting part of a former senior officer's statement of response to the bombing, is candid about the mistakes of the past.
"Personally I think the relatives have, in many ways, been victimised twice," he says.
"They were victimised the first time, when the bomb occurred, and they suffered terribly. I believe, in many ways, they have been victimised a second time by the way the criminal justice system hasn't been able to deliver a prosecution.
"I don't think the criminal justice system, including police, has given a service afterwards and the multitude of reports that came out and all that stuff, it reinforces the problems they are facing."
The new team is reviewing the investigation and pursuing a number of lines of inquiry, which Mr Kinkaid declined to disclose.
"We are looking and investigating certain lines of inquiry. We are gathering evidence," he says.
"Like all investigations there comes a time when we feel it is sufficient to arrest or to interview people. A judgment call has to be made at what stage you do that.
"You go too early, you show your hand and you haven't enough. That is what we are currently doing, with our Merseyside colleagues, looking at all the various lines of inquiry, looking back over periods of stuff.
"Obviously with technical developments there are things that we can do in this year that we couldn't do in 1998. Forensic wise things move very fast and you can go back and look at things.
"I have spoken to the families and tried to explain the various lines of inquiry to them and to explain why you have to build a case."
The Police Ombudsman has said the chances of catching the bombers have been severely hampered by the seriously flawed investigation.
"As long as I am in charge of this I am personally guaranteeing that this will be an enthusiastic and professional investigation," Mr Kinkaid insists.
"We will endeavour to ensure that every possible line of inquiry will be followed.
"I will try and make sure that there will be no situations where people try to put blocks in my investigation in other parts of the criminal justice or police system. I am convinced of the convictions and drive of the team. I think the Merseyside officer who has come in has brought in a new breath of life, some new ideas, a new approach to looking at the same things. The (team) is very determined as well, not to review this, but to catch the bombers. That combination will show.
"I never guarantee success in murders. You can't guarantee success in murders. What you can guarantee though is to work very hard to get a result.
"Here is another point, if I charge one of these people, we are still going for the rest."
Mr Kinkaid will, for the first time, brief the Policing Board on any progress in the investigation in a private meeting on August 22. With confidence in the inquiry at an all time low Mr Kinkaid is anxious to rebuild bridges with relatives.
"I think it is important we gain their confidence," he says.
"I had a long meeting with them in Omagh, the contents of which are completely confidential. I am not naive enough to think that having one meeting with people is going to make them feel stronger about us.
"There was, hopefully, a start made at the meeting but I believe it is going to take some time for a good working relationship between us.
"I have asked them to judge us over the next six-to-nine months, by what we do and what we achieve."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0570
Published Date: 12-Aug-02
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