Policing Board accept report on Omagh inquiry

The Policing Board has received the final report from the senior police officer appointed to oversee the police inquiry into the Omagh bombing investigation.

Merseyside Deputy Chief Constable Mike Tonge was appointed in May 2002 to provide the Policing Board with a report that included an assessment of the current state of the ongoing investigation.

Policing Board Chairman, Professor Desmond Rea said that DCC Tonge’s role, on behalf of the Board, was to oversee and progress specific recommendations arising from the Board’s statement on the Omagh Reports.

He said that the Board was “satisfied that significant progress has been made in moving forward the investigation” and that the “wider community should be assured that issues of concern previously identified have now been fully addressed”.

However, he said that a number of issues raised in the Report would require further action and the Board would continue to monitor this investigation through discussion with chief constable Hugh Orde.

Professor Rea, said: “This was a difficult and challenging task but the Board believed that unique circumstances demanded a unique solution.

“From the outset, the Board wanted to satisfy itself, and the wider community, that all the opportunities for prosecutions arising out of the Omagh investigation were maximized and that all lessons arising from the Omagh Reports have been learnt.”

The terms of reference for the report included:

• Examining the resource and skills levels needed to satisfactorily conclude the investigation.
• Undertaking a quality assurance role and monitoring progress in the investigation including implementation of the Omagh Bomb Review Report.
• Enhancing working practices with An Garda Siochana in relation to the Omagh Bomb investigation and linked inquiries.

Detective Chief Superintendent Phil Jones, the External Senior Investigating officer appointed by the PSNI, also reported to the Policing Board.

Assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid, the Senior PSNI officer in charge of the investigation, along with the PSNI Senior Investigating Officer, Norman Baxter, updated Board members on the next phase of the investigation. ACC Kinkaid is to update the Board on a quarterly basis.

Merseyside DCC Mike Tonge was drafted in following a major rift between Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan and the then PSNI Chief Constable Ronnie Flannagan, following the Ombudsman’s report on the conduct of the inquiry into the 1998 bombing of Omagh by the Real IRA.

The bombing, in which 29 people were killed, is one of the worst atrocities carried out by republican paramilitaries.

Professor Rea added: “Clearly this is a live investigation and it is the Board’s sincere hope that those who perpetrated this dreadful atrocity are brought to justice for their actions.”

(SP)