THREAT BOOK' CONCERNS ARISE AS NEW TWIST EMERGES IN OMAGH BOMB PROBE
Threat Book' concerns arise as new twist emerges in Omagh bomb probe
Special branch officer quizzed over warning telephone call
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have expressed their grave concerns as to the whereabouts of a 'Threat Book', which they say should show records of an anonymous call, warning of an impending attack.
And in the latest twist in the police investigation, it has been revealed that a PSNI Special Branch officer is the chief suspect as the source of the anonymous 'tip-off 'call, which was received at Omagh Police Station, just 11 days before the explosion, which claimed the lives of 29 people and unborn twins.
An unidentified male caller contacted the CID office in Omagh at 10am on August 4, 1998. He spoke to a detective constable, and gave the names of four men whom he claimed would be involved in bringing weapons over the border to be used in the attack on August 15.
He also gave the address where the weapons would be stored prior to the attack. The officer who took the call, which lasted for about 10 minutes, was convinced by the caller's tone that the alert was genuine, and asked him to call back the following evening.
He then took the appropriate action and travelled to the divisional headquarters in Enniskillen to inform Special Branch officers of what he had been told.
The Police Ombudsman's report was damning of the action taken by officers from this point on. It ruled that: "Special branch took only limited action on the information received on August 4, 1998, and a threat warning was not sent to the Sub-Divisional Commander, Omagh, as required by Force Order."
Special Branch officers dismissed the people who were named as 'only smugglers', despite the fact that at least one of them was
known to have been involved in terrorist activity in the year prior to the bomb, and nothing further was done about the telephone call.
'Threat Book'
The Omagh families, however, say that details of the call should have been recorded in a 'Threat Book'. In attempting to locate the book, the families have been told that no such thing existed in Omagh Police Station prior to the Omagh bomb.
In a letter to one of the relatives, Superintendent Michael Skuce writes: "At the time of the original enquiry about the Threat Book the District Commander, Superintendent James Baxter, was of the belief that there had been a Threat Book and he initiated enquiries in an effort to locate same.
"It was only some time later that it was realised that the procedure of recording threat messages in a Threat Book had been implemented subsequent to the Omagh bomb and as such, a Threat Book for that period did not exist."
In a letter to the same relative from the Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, on the same subject, however, a different picture was painted.
Mrs O'Loan said: "You ask me whether Police Stations had a Threat Book in use on and prior to August 15, 1998. I cannot comment on whether all police stations had a Threat Book in use, as I have not asked that question. The only thing I can tell you is that there was a Threat Book in Omagh, but that Threat Book was not available to the Office at the time at which we conducted our investigation."
Further correspondence from Mrs O'Loan's office revealed that two of her investigating officers, when they visited Omagh, were shown threat books for the periods August 6, 1991 to November 11, 1996, and from September 7, 1998, to September 18, 2001.
The Threat Book for the period before the Omagh bomb was not and has never been made available for examination to the Ombudsman.
Mrs O'Loan said: "The Threat Book, however, could not be found: a member of the Omagh Bomb Murder Review team stated that they had not taken possession of any document or Threat Book that was in the possession of the Superintendent.
"Whilst there may be some doubt as to whether the document is to be referred to as a Threat Message Folder or a Threat Book (which it appears to have been commonly called by the officers) the fact remains that the Threat Book for the period in question was not available when my staff sought it."
Relatives of those who died in the Omagh atrocity felt that the alleged 'disappearance' of the Threat Book, and the possible involvement of a Special branch officer in the tip-off phone call are yet more reasons for a full, cross-border judicial inquiry into the bombing.
Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was killed in the bomb, has written to Mrs O'Loan and to the Dublin-based Human Rights Commission, calling for them to re-examine the 'sinister and disturbing' events, which led up to the attack.
Mr Gallagher said: "This is one more serious incident in a long line of serious incidents that the Omagh families have had to put up with. Both governments must allow us to have a full inquiry into what happened in Omagh.
"We have always believed that the 4th of August phone call wasn't what it seemed, because it was so accurate, that person had information that they wanted to convey to the police. It just doesn't sit right that it actually did happen and there was a phone call that predicted it exactly."
Commenting on the questioning of a Special Branch officer in relation to the anonymous phone call, the Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Sam Kinkaid, said: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland continues to dedicate significant resources from its crime operations department to the investigation of all aspects of the Omagh atrocity.
"The investigation team has been examining all events that might be relevant to the investigation or to any prosecutions. All matters
examined by the investigation team will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for his direction."
Refused
Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission chief, Mr Brice Dickson, has been refused a meeting with the PSNI to discuss their investigation into what happened in Omagh.
Mr Dickson has already examined a number of files compiled by the families, and has been asked to back their campaign for a cross-border judicial hearing.
Commenting on the news, Mr Gallagher went on to say: "There is something seriously wrong in the Omagh investigation when the Human Rights Commission have done exactly the same thing they did at the Rosemary Nelson inquiry and the Pat Finucane inquiry. When they were asked to consider those cases, they asked for a meeting with the senior investigating officers and were granted it, but in Omagh they weren't granted a meeting. There is a serious problem there that has to be addressed.
"This is the seventh year since it happened and Omagh is still a story that is very much alive. The people that are involved in trying to discover the truth will continue to press both governments until we know what happened at Omagh."
Special branch officer quizzed over warning telephone call
by Claire Anthony
FAMILIES of the Omagh bomb victims have expressed their grave concerns as to the whereabouts of a 'Threat Book', which they say should show records of an anonymous call, warning of an impending attack.
And in the latest twist in the police investigation, it has been revealed that a PSNI Special Branch officer is the chief suspect as the source of the anonymous 'tip-off 'call, which was received at Omagh Police Station, just 11 days before the explosion, which claimed the lives of 29 people and unborn twins.
An unidentified male caller contacted the CID office in Omagh at 10am on August 4, 1998. He spoke to a detective constable, and gave the names of four men whom he claimed would be involved in bringing weapons over the border to be used in the attack on August 15.
He also gave the address where the weapons would be stored prior to the attack. The officer who took the call, which lasted for about 10 minutes, was convinced by the caller's tone that the alert was genuine, and asked him to call back the following evening.
He then took the appropriate action and travelled to the divisional headquarters in Enniskillen to inform Special Branch officers of what he had been told.
The Police Ombudsman's report was damning of the action taken by officers from this point on. It ruled that: "Special branch took only limited action on the information received on August 4, 1998, and a threat warning was not sent to the Sub-Divisional Commander, Omagh, as required by Force Order."
Special Branch officers dismissed the people who were named as 'only smugglers', despite the fact that at least one of them was
known to have been involved in terrorist activity in the year prior to the bomb, and nothing further was done about the telephone call.
'Threat Book'
The Omagh families, however, say that details of the call should have been recorded in a 'Threat Book'. In attempting to locate the book, the families have been told that no such thing existed in Omagh Police Station prior to the Omagh bomb.
In a letter to one of the relatives, Superintendent Michael Skuce writes: "At the time of the original enquiry about the Threat Book the District Commander, Superintendent James Baxter, was of the belief that there had been a Threat Book and he initiated enquiries in an effort to locate same.
"It was only some time later that it was realised that the procedure of recording threat messages in a Threat Book had been implemented subsequent to the Omagh bomb and as such, a Threat Book for that period did not exist."
In a letter to the same relative from the Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, on the same subject, however, a different picture was painted.
Mrs O'Loan said: "You ask me whether Police Stations had a Threat Book in use on and prior to August 15, 1998. I cannot comment on whether all police stations had a Threat Book in use, as I have not asked that question. The only thing I can tell you is that there was a Threat Book in Omagh, but that Threat Book was not available to the Office at the time at which we conducted our investigation."
Further correspondence from Mrs O'Loan's office revealed that two of her investigating officers, when they visited Omagh, were shown threat books for the periods August 6, 1991 to November 11, 1996, and from September 7, 1998, to September 18, 2001.
The Threat Book for the period before the Omagh bomb was not and has never been made available for examination to the Ombudsman.
Mrs O'Loan said: "The Threat Book, however, could not be found: a member of the Omagh Bomb Murder Review team stated that they had not taken possession of any document or Threat Book that was in the possession of the Superintendent.
"Whilst there may be some doubt as to whether the document is to be referred to as a Threat Message Folder or a Threat Book (which it appears to have been commonly called by the officers) the fact remains that the Threat Book for the period in question was not available when my staff sought it."
Relatives of those who died in the Omagh atrocity felt that the alleged 'disappearance' of the Threat Book, and the possible involvement of a Special branch officer in the tip-off phone call are yet more reasons for a full, cross-border judicial inquiry into the bombing.
Mr Michael Gallagher, whose son, Aidan, was killed in the bomb, has written to Mrs O'Loan and to the Dublin-based Human Rights Commission, calling for them to re-examine the 'sinister and disturbing' events, which led up to the attack.
Mr Gallagher said: "This is one more serious incident in a long line of serious incidents that the Omagh families have had to put up with. Both governments must allow us to have a full inquiry into what happened in Omagh.
"We have always believed that the 4th of August phone call wasn't what it seemed, because it was so accurate, that person had information that they wanted to convey to the police. It just doesn't sit right that it actually did happen and there was a phone call that predicted it exactly."
Commenting on the questioning of a Special Branch officer in relation to the anonymous phone call, the Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Sam Kinkaid, said: "The Police Service of Northern Ireland continues to dedicate significant resources from its crime operations department to the investigation of all aspects of the Omagh atrocity.
"The investigation team has been examining all events that might be relevant to the investigation or to any prosecutions. All matters
examined by the investigation team will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for his direction."
Refused
Meanwhile, it has also emerged that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission chief, Mr Brice Dickson, has been refused a meeting with the PSNI to discuss their investigation into what happened in Omagh.
Mr Dickson has already examined a number of files compiled by the families, and has been asked to back their campaign for a cross-border judicial hearing.
Commenting on the news, Mr Gallagher went on to say: "There is something seriously wrong in the Omagh investigation when the Human Rights Commission have done exactly the same thing they did at the Rosemary Nelson inquiry and the Pat Finucane inquiry. When they were asked to consider those cases, they asked for a meeting with the senior investigating officers and were granted it, but in Omagh they weren't granted a meeting. There is a serious problem there that has to be addressed.
"This is the seventh year since it happened and Omagh is still a story that is very much alive. The people that are involved in trying to discover the truth will continue to press both governments until we know what happened at Omagh."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1775
Published Date: 30-Dec-04
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