FLANAGANS FIGHTBACK
Flanagan's fightback
By MAURICE FITZMAURICE
POLICE boss Sir Ronnie Flanagan made an emotional defence of his force yesterday after claims that officers failed to stop the Omagh bomb atrocity.
He said he would trust his life with the Special Branch officers accused of failing to act on information that an attack was to take place on August 15, 1998.
Sir Ronnie revealed that an anonymous caller 11 days before the blast claimed the Continuity IRA was planning to attack police in Omagh with assault rifles and rocket launchers.
He backed the two intelligence officers who analysed the call after a leaked Police Ombudsman report damned the RUC for failing to prevent the atrocity that killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins. He added: "Undoubtedly the officer who received this call took it seriously and that's quite properly the case.
"He went to his CID boss and together they decided to have Special Branch assess this call that had been received.
"That assessment was carried out by two very experienced Special Branch officers whose assessment I would trust my life to and who the local sub-divisional commander has told me he would trust the lives of his children to.
"That's the sort of Special Branch officers we're talking about here.
"When the detail of the call was passed to those Special Branch officers, the individuals named [by the caller]; two of them were known to one of these Special Branch officers, and these were people not having any subversive trace. Checks were made in respect of the third person to establish that he had no subversive trace as well.
"So it was the Special Branch assessment on looking at this that it did not merit further action, but just in case there would be any further material as had been promised by the anonymous caller, arrangements were made for a Special Branch officer to be present the following evening.
"That officer waited all evening and no further call came.
"I would trust my life to them, and the local sub-divisional commander has told me he would trust the lives of his children with them too."
He said the call referred to the Continuity IRA, not Real IRA. But was known at the time that the Continuity IRA and Real IRA were co-operating to carry out attacks.
Sir Ronnie, who will step down as Chief Constable early next year, vehemently denied suggestions that Special Branch failed to act because they were protecting an agent inside the Real IRA. He added: "There's no question of that, there's categorically no question of that. What happened on the fourth of August was that an anonymous male made a call to the CID office in Omagh, that call was received by a Detective Constable.
"The caller named two people who he said would be bringing in four AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers on behalf of the Continuity IRA.
"The caller then went on to say these weapons would be moved to another location where yet another person was named, and that having been held there they would then be moved to some unknown spot two to three miles outside Omagh for an attack on the police in Omagh on the 15th of August.
"The caller, incidentally, said that he'd be meeting these people again the next day and would ring back the following evening.
"On receipt of this call the Detective Constable spoke with and consulted his own Detective Chief Inspector in CID and they decided to go to Special Branch to have them assess this."
But asked on the BBC's Talkback programme why the area's sub-divisional commander had not been informed of the threat, Sir Ronnie said it was not entirely Special Branch's responsibility to do so.
He added: "There's no question of putting the whole responsibility on the Special Branch officers here.
"We have an instruction that says information received about a threat should be passed to the sub-divisional commander, his or her deputy or, in there absence, the duty inspector.
"The young constable immediately went above that level to his chief inspector first and they decided to go to Special Branch for an assessment, and in the end, that assessment having been made, none of them decided that it merited being passed to the sub-divisional commander.
"The whole purpose, the whole thrust of the instruction we have for these matters to be passed to the sub-divisional commander, is so that they can be properly assessed by Special Branch.
"We get thousands of anonymous calls and what has to happen is that they have to be properly assessed."
Sir Ronnie fiercely denied the tip-off should have been treated any differently even though a specific date and place had been mentioned.
Sir Ronnie added: "It certainly wasn't treated as a Mickey Mouse call by the officer who received it and that's absolutely proper.
"But the whole purpose of the action he took was to have it properly assessed and I've no doubt that it was properly assessed.
"There was no semblance of any such attack taking place on the 15th of August against my officers, an attack that was supposed to be a gun and rocket attack."
However it is believed Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's report will claim that the sub-divisional commander should have been told.
But Sir Ronnie insisted: "I'm satisfied that after this proper assessment, it was not necessary to tell the sub-divisional commander.
"In fact any sub-divisional commander if his officers - it having been assessed that the intelligence merited action by him - were to be subjected to some attack through guns and rockets at an unspecified location, the net result of action that he would have taken would have been fewer patrols on the ground, a withdrawal of patrols, a maintenance of those absolutely necessary patrols in armoured vehicles.
"It certainly would not have constituted the setting up of vehicle checkpoints. That's what I would have expected from any sub-divisional commander."
He welcomed reports that British police could head a new probe into how his force handled the atrocity.
Sir Ronnie said: "If that's what it takes to reassure victims that no stone will be left unturned in this investigation, which remains current and live, then we will bring in a team from outside."
But he added: "The families and the victims have been through far too much already.
"I don't think this [bringing in an outside team] will be any more effective than our own team doing it.
"We've had external teams before for different reasons. But I want those families to have every reassurance that every lead will be followed up in this investigation."
By MAURICE FITZMAURICE
POLICE boss Sir Ronnie Flanagan made an emotional defence of his force yesterday after claims that officers failed to stop the Omagh bomb atrocity.
He said he would trust his life with the Special Branch officers accused of failing to act on information that an attack was to take place on August 15, 1998.
Sir Ronnie revealed that an anonymous caller 11 days before the blast claimed the Continuity IRA was planning to attack police in Omagh with assault rifles and rocket launchers.
He backed the two intelligence officers who analysed the call after a leaked Police Ombudsman report damned the RUC for failing to prevent the atrocity that killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins. He added: "Undoubtedly the officer who received this call took it seriously and that's quite properly the case.
"He went to his CID boss and together they decided to have Special Branch assess this call that had been received.
"That assessment was carried out by two very experienced Special Branch officers whose assessment I would trust my life to and who the local sub-divisional commander has told me he would trust the lives of his children to.
"That's the sort of Special Branch officers we're talking about here.
"When the detail of the call was passed to those Special Branch officers, the individuals named [by the caller]; two of them were known to one of these Special Branch officers, and these were people not having any subversive trace. Checks were made in respect of the third person to establish that he had no subversive trace as well.
"So it was the Special Branch assessment on looking at this that it did not merit further action, but just in case there would be any further material as had been promised by the anonymous caller, arrangements were made for a Special Branch officer to be present the following evening.
"That officer waited all evening and no further call came.
"I would trust my life to them, and the local sub-divisional commander has told me he would trust the lives of his children with them too."
He said the call referred to the Continuity IRA, not Real IRA. But was known at the time that the Continuity IRA and Real IRA were co-operating to carry out attacks.
Sir Ronnie, who will step down as Chief Constable early next year, vehemently denied suggestions that Special Branch failed to act because they were protecting an agent inside the Real IRA. He added: "There's no question of that, there's categorically no question of that. What happened on the fourth of August was that an anonymous male made a call to the CID office in Omagh, that call was received by a Detective Constable.
"The caller named two people who he said would be bringing in four AK47 rifles and two rocket launchers on behalf of the Continuity IRA.
"The caller then went on to say these weapons would be moved to another location where yet another person was named, and that having been held there they would then be moved to some unknown spot two to three miles outside Omagh for an attack on the police in Omagh on the 15th of August.
"The caller, incidentally, said that he'd be meeting these people again the next day and would ring back the following evening.
"On receipt of this call the Detective Constable spoke with and consulted his own Detective Chief Inspector in CID and they decided to go to Special Branch to have them assess this."
But asked on the BBC's Talkback programme why the area's sub-divisional commander had not been informed of the threat, Sir Ronnie said it was not entirely Special Branch's responsibility to do so.
He added: "There's no question of putting the whole responsibility on the Special Branch officers here.
"We have an instruction that says information received about a threat should be passed to the sub-divisional commander, his or her deputy or, in there absence, the duty inspector.
"The young constable immediately went above that level to his chief inspector first and they decided to go to Special Branch for an assessment, and in the end, that assessment having been made, none of them decided that it merited being passed to the sub-divisional commander.
"The whole purpose, the whole thrust of the instruction we have for these matters to be passed to the sub-divisional commander, is so that they can be properly assessed by Special Branch.
"We get thousands of anonymous calls and what has to happen is that they have to be properly assessed."
Sir Ronnie fiercely denied the tip-off should have been treated any differently even though a specific date and place had been mentioned.
Sir Ronnie added: "It certainly wasn't treated as a Mickey Mouse call by the officer who received it and that's absolutely proper.
"But the whole purpose of the action he took was to have it properly assessed and I've no doubt that it was properly assessed.
"There was no semblance of any such attack taking place on the 15th of August against my officers, an attack that was supposed to be a gun and rocket attack."
However it is believed Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan's report will claim that the sub-divisional commander should have been told.
But Sir Ronnie insisted: "I'm satisfied that after this proper assessment, it was not necessary to tell the sub-divisional commander.
"In fact any sub-divisional commander if his officers - it having been assessed that the intelligence merited action by him - were to be subjected to some attack through guns and rockets at an unspecified location, the net result of action that he would have taken would have been fewer patrols on the ground, a withdrawal of patrols, a maintenance of those absolutely necessary patrols in armoured vehicles.
"It certainly would not have constituted the setting up of vehicle checkpoints. That's what I would have expected from any sub-divisional commander."
He welcomed reports that British police could head a new probe into how his force handled the atrocity.
Sir Ronnie said: "If that's what it takes to reassure victims that no stone will be left unturned in this investigation, which remains current and live, then we will bring in a team from outside."
But he added: "The families and the victims have been through far too much already.
"I don't think this [bringing in an outside team] will be any more effective than our own team doing it.
"We've had external teams before for different reasons. But I want those families to have every reassurance that every lead will be followed up in this investigation."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/139
Published Date: 08-Dec-01
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