Letter Bombs 'Addressed To NI Prison'

Two letter bombs have been discovered at different postal sorting offices in Northern Ireland.

Within the space of 24 hours, the devices were found at Royal Mail sorting offices in Londonderry and Lisburn. It is believed the two packages had been addressed to Maghaberry Prison.

On Thursday afternoon, a security alert was announced at the premises on Great James Street in the area. The device was discovered in a while A4 envelope, on which an address had been written in grey-typed stencil, police have said. Then, on Friday morning, an alert was raised in Lisburn after police received reports of a suspicious object found at the city's Royal Mail centre.

The Linenhall Street premises was evacuated and Linenhall Street, between Bridge Street and Market Street, was closed. Army disposal experts were sent to the scene.

Viable devices have been removed from both scenes for further examination.

Detectives have warned the public to be vigilant and report any similar packages.

The latest incidents have been criticised by a number of Northern Ireland's political leaders.

In a joint statement, First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said: "We utterly condemn the recent letter bombs discovered in postal sorting offices in Derry/Londonderry and Lisburn.

"The people behind these letter bombs are opposed to the democratic will of the people and want to drag us back to the past. They have no respect for the postal workers, the wider community or the future."

Justice Minister David Ford added: "Yet again we have a cold blooded attempt to cause death or serious injury. Those behind this device do not care who they hurt or injure and have nothing positive to offer.

"I would ask people to continue to be vigilant and report anything suspicious to the police."

In October 2013, four suspicious devices were intercepted in Northern Ireland's post, while just last month, a number of letter bombs were sent to Army recruiting offices in England. At the time, a Downing Street spokesperson said the packages bore "the hallmarks of Northern Ireland-related terrorism."

(JP)