OMAGH BOMB INVESTIGATOR TO STEP DOWN
Omagh bomb investigator to step down
By ADRIAN MULLAN
Following the resignation of Eric Anderson, the senior detective in charge of the Omagh bomb investigation, it seems likely that the person taking over the investigation into the 1998 bombing will be Brian McVicker, the new regional head of CID.
Detective Chief Superintendent Anderson will continue to oversee the investigation until his retirement in March.
Speaking to the Herald this week he said the investigation is very much alive with some twenty detectives working on the case fulltime
"I can assure you that this investigation will be handed over, when I go, to someone who might even be a better detective than myself put it like that."
He said that Mr McVicker was a 'brilliant detective' based in Derry and added "He'll not let things go by default in any way. He has just been involved in the review of the Omagh bombing so he knows the case from back to front. It's not a question of somebody new coming in."
He said that the senior investigating officer will be Brian McArthur that the whole investigation was about to be reviewed and that detectives where about to start a whole new line of inquiry. "If people give us information, it doesn't matter how obtuse it is or how far out it is we'll still look into it", he said.
Chief Superintendent Anderson, denied a claim by some of the Omagh relatives that there had been political interference in the inquiry but did say that his job was, to some extent, political.
Mr Anderson added that remarks attributed to him at the weekend were not intended as a criticism of the Patten report, " I'm not criticising Patten for the RUC like any organisation change is good. I didn't even think that what I said at the weekend was going to get the coverage it got. I did regret it because it caused problems for the boss and people were saying afterwards that I'd broken the line. I didn't, I was asked for my personal reasons and I gave them.
He continued, "I don't want to create any problems for the Chief Ronnie Flanagan. If it hadn't been for him the job wouldn't be where it is today. If we can attract everyone into it that's going to make it even better I'm all for that."
He stressed his support for the victims and the families of the victims of the Omagh bomb; "I've given them everything they've ever asked for, and when I retire I'll still be working for them", he said.
Mr Anderson also denied rumours that he is to take a top security job when he resigns for the RUC, in fact, he suggested that he had no work lined up and stressed that if he did take up a job it would not be related to security.
Nor has he any plans to write a memoir outlining his experiences throughout the investigation.
"I don't believe in memoirs. They tend, if anything, to be your perception. I sometimes wonder if they do any good "
The father of one of the "31 people in the "Real IRA atrocity in Omagh on 15 August 1998, has said political interference hampered the investigation into the bombing.
Speaking following the news that Eric Anderson is to resign, Michael Gallagher, whose son Adrian died in the blast, said he hoped that Chief
Superintendent Anderson would say things in retirement that he could not say as a policeman.
Mr Gallagher said that it was unfortunate that senior police officers, with such a vast amount of experience are leaving the police force, "That knowledge should be passed on to new members and younger people joining the new police force."
By ADRIAN MULLAN
Following the resignation of Eric Anderson, the senior detective in charge of the Omagh bomb investigation, it seems likely that the person taking over the investigation into the 1998 bombing will be Brian McVicker, the new regional head of CID.
Detective Chief Superintendent Anderson will continue to oversee the investigation until his retirement in March.
Speaking to the Herald this week he said the investigation is very much alive with some twenty detectives working on the case fulltime
"I can assure you that this investigation will be handed over, when I go, to someone who might even be a better detective than myself put it like that."
He said that Mr McVicker was a 'brilliant detective' based in Derry and added "He'll not let things go by default in any way. He has just been involved in the review of the Omagh bombing so he knows the case from back to front. It's not a question of somebody new coming in."
He said that the senior investigating officer will be Brian McArthur that the whole investigation was about to be reviewed and that detectives where about to start a whole new line of inquiry. "If people give us information, it doesn't matter how obtuse it is or how far out it is we'll still look into it", he said.
Chief Superintendent Anderson, denied a claim by some of the Omagh relatives that there had been political interference in the inquiry but did say that his job was, to some extent, political.
Mr Anderson added that remarks attributed to him at the weekend were not intended as a criticism of the Patten report, " I'm not criticising Patten for the RUC like any organisation change is good. I didn't even think that what I said at the weekend was going to get the coverage it got. I did regret it because it caused problems for the boss and people were saying afterwards that I'd broken the line. I didn't, I was asked for my personal reasons and I gave them.
He continued, "I don't want to create any problems for the Chief Ronnie Flanagan. If it hadn't been for him the job wouldn't be where it is today. If we can attract everyone into it that's going to make it even better I'm all for that."
He stressed his support for the victims and the families of the victims of the Omagh bomb; "I've given them everything they've ever asked for, and when I retire I'll still be working for them", he said.
Mr Anderson also denied rumours that he is to take a top security job when he resigns for the RUC, in fact, he suggested that he had no work lined up and stressed that if he did take up a job it would not be related to security.
Nor has he any plans to write a memoir outlining his experiences throughout the investigation.
"I don't believe in memoirs. They tend, if anything, to be your perception. I sometimes wonder if they do any good "
The father of one of the "31 people in the "Real IRA atrocity in Omagh on 15 August 1998, has said political interference hampered the investigation into the bombing.
Speaking following the news that Eric Anderson is to resign, Michael Gallagher, whose son Adrian died in the blast, said he hoped that Chief
Superintendent Anderson would say things in retirement that he could not say as a policeman.
Mr Gallagher said that it was unfortunate that senior police officers, with such a vast amount of experience are leaving the police force, "That knowledge should be passed on to new members and younger people joining the new police force."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1521
Published Date: 30-Nov-00
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