FLANAGAN IN DOCK AS DETAILS EMERGE
Flanagan in dock as details emerge
BY CHRIS MOORE
FATAL flaws in the RUC investigation into the Omagh bombing were ignored at the highest echelons of the force, a UTV Insight programme will confirm tonight (Thursday).
As Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan prepares to meet the families of the victims of the 1998 atrocity in Omagh next week, the UTV team has obtained a full copy of the report into the handling of the Omagh bombing prepared by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan which he plans to refute. This establishes that the Ombudsman's report is based primarily on an internal review into the bomb investigation by the then RUC acting under the command and authority of its Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
The internal police report provides evidence that the inquiry had serious deficiencies from the outset. These were ignored both at ground level and by the most senior officers.
UTV also reveals that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has since failed to implement the recommendations of the review, drawn up in consultation with Her Majesty's Inspectorate, the body governing policing. The Ombudsman says "at the time of the preparation of this report the Chief Constable's position is that the Omagh Bomb Review Report is 'live' and he is considering it. This is a totally inadequate response to the compelling recommendations of the Omagh Bomb Review Report submitted to him over a year ago."
Mrs O'Loan claims that at a meeting last September between Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, Assistant Chief Constable Crime Raymond White and members of the Ombudsman's staff, the report prepared by Chief Superintendent Brian McVicar was effectively dismissed.
She writes: "Among his other contributions, the ACC Crime described the Omagh Bomb Review Report at one stage as 'the views of one person'."
In fact, the report was the first formal review of an investigation carried out by the RUC and was "quality assured" by the HMI, an indication of its political importance. Headed by Chief Supt McVicar, one of the RUC's most senior detectives, it involved 11 experienced officers, including two HMI representatives. The McVicar team liaised with the Chief Constable throughout its probe. The report says, "In view of some emerging negative findings of the Omagh Bomb Review report, the Reviewing Officer briefed the Chief Constable and A.C.C. Crime on May 15, 2000 on weaknesses found in the Omagh investigation."
When the review was finally furnished in November, 200, its findings were not immediately implemented. That was in direct contravention to Association of Chief Police Officer rules.
Crucially McVicar had demanded the urgent injection of resources and personnel "to enhance the prospects of a successful outcome". According to the Ombudsman, McVicar "was of the firm view that these issues needed to be addressed without delay".
Nothing was done until September 2001 when the O'Loan investigation had access to the review. Even then, the "additional personnel provided for the investigation on 3 September 2001 lack the investigative experience necessary," according to the O'Loan report. "The overall impression is not that of a team assembled to pursue positive outstanding lines of inquiry tenaciously."
There was "no full-time Senior Investigating Officer or Deputy Investigating Officer on the case". As a result "appropriate leadership was not provided".
The list of failures includes "significant and fundamental errors in investigation". "Two months after the bombing staffing was reduced by 42%... and there was a continued reduction thereafter".
One of the most damaging discoveries by the Ombudsman was a report sent by the part-time Senior Investigating Officer to "Special Branch and CID requesting any further intelligence they held as he was contemplating closing the inquiry".
The Ombudsman adds her own scathing comment "This apparent lack of priority was despite the fact that the Omagh bomb claimed the lives of twenty-nine people and two unborn children."
BY CHRIS MOORE
FATAL flaws in the RUC investigation into the Omagh bombing were ignored at the highest echelons of the force, a UTV Insight programme will confirm tonight (Thursday).
As Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan prepares to meet the families of the victims of the 1998 atrocity in Omagh next week, the UTV team has obtained a full copy of the report into the handling of the Omagh bombing prepared by Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan which he plans to refute. This establishes that the Ombudsman's report is based primarily on an internal review into the bomb investigation by the then RUC acting under the command and authority of its Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
The internal police report provides evidence that the inquiry had serious deficiencies from the outset. These were ignored both at ground level and by the most senior officers.
UTV also reveals that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has since failed to implement the recommendations of the review, drawn up in consultation with Her Majesty's Inspectorate, the body governing policing. The Ombudsman says "at the time of the preparation of this report the Chief Constable's position is that the Omagh Bomb Review Report is 'live' and he is considering it. This is a totally inadequate response to the compelling recommendations of the Omagh Bomb Review Report submitted to him over a year ago."
Mrs O'Loan claims that at a meeting last September between Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, Assistant Chief Constable Crime Raymond White and members of the Ombudsman's staff, the report prepared by Chief Superintendent Brian McVicar was effectively dismissed.
She writes: "Among his other contributions, the ACC Crime described the Omagh Bomb Review Report at one stage as 'the views of one person'."
In fact, the report was the first formal review of an investigation carried out by the RUC and was "quality assured" by the HMI, an indication of its political importance. Headed by Chief Supt McVicar, one of the RUC's most senior detectives, it involved 11 experienced officers, including two HMI representatives. The McVicar team liaised with the Chief Constable throughout its probe. The report says, "In view of some emerging negative findings of the Omagh Bomb Review report, the Reviewing Officer briefed the Chief Constable and A.C.C. Crime on May 15, 2000 on weaknesses found in the Omagh investigation."
When the review was finally furnished in November, 200, its findings were not immediately implemented. That was in direct contravention to Association of Chief Police Officer rules.
Crucially McVicar had demanded the urgent injection of resources and personnel "to enhance the prospects of a successful outcome". According to the Ombudsman, McVicar "was of the firm view that these issues needed to be addressed without delay".
Nothing was done until September 2001 when the O'Loan investigation had access to the review. Even then, the "additional personnel provided for the investigation on 3 September 2001 lack the investigative experience necessary," according to the O'Loan report. "The overall impression is not that of a team assembled to pursue positive outstanding lines of inquiry tenaciously."
There was "no full-time Senior Investigating Officer or Deputy Investigating Officer on the case". As a result "appropriate leadership was not provided".
The list of failures includes "significant and fundamental errors in investigation". "Two months after the bombing staffing was reduced by 42%... and there was a continued reduction thereafter".
One of the most damaging discoveries by the Ombudsman was a report sent by the part-time Senior Investigating Officer to "Special Branch and CID requesting any further intelligence they held as he was contemplating closing the inquiry".
The Ombudsman adds her own scathing comment "This apparent lack of priority was despite the fact that the Omagh bomb claimed the lives of twenty-nine people and two unborn children."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0919
Published Date: 17-Jan-02
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