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19/06/2014
RUC Unaware Of Adams Attack
There has been no evidence found of RUC involvement in the UFF gun attack on Gerry Adams and four other men in Belfast city centre on 14 March 1984, according to the Police Ombudsman.
The Sinn Féin leader was in a car with four other men making their way from Belfast Magistrates' Court when loyalist gunmen opened fire on the vehicle.
The driver, despite being hit twice by the gunfire, managed to get the vehicle to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where they all received medical attention.
An off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier who was driving in the city centre at the time gave chase to the gunmen's car. As it stopped in traffic, the soldier got out of his vehicle and drew his firearm. A policeman, who had also been off-duty, then arrived on the scene, as did two soldiers in plain clothes.
The three gunmen in the car were detained and convicted of the attack.
Mr Adams then made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman's Office following articles in two newspapers that claimed members of the RUC had prior knowledge of the attack.
A Police Ombudsman team spoke with Mr Adams, to the soldiers who arrived on the scene, to bystanders, to the gunmen who carried out the attack and to a number of retired police officers.
Police Ombudsman investigators also spoke to journalists involved in the media reporting that claimed the RUC had known about the attack before it happened, but they said the journalists were unwilling to reveal where they had received the information.
The Police Ombudsman had the ammunition used in the attack examined independently by a firearms expert. He found no evidence that the items had been tampered with and said they had 'lethal potential'.
Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said: "We have talked to all the people involved in the events that day, including the perpetrators, the victims and the police. We have examined all the available evidence, including forensic and sensitive intelligence material and found no evidence that police knew of the attack beforehand."
(IT/JP)
The Sinn Féin leader was in a car with four other men making their way from Belfast Magistrates' Court when loyalist gunmen opened fire on the vehicle.
The driver, despite being hit twice by the gunfire, managed to get the vehicle to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where they all received medical attention.
An off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) soldier who was driving in the city centre at the time gave chase to the gunmen's car. As it stopped in traffic, the soldier got out of his vehicle and drew his firearm. A policeman, who had also been off-duty, then arrived on the scene, as did two soldiers in plain clothes.
The three gunmen in the car were detained and convicted of the attack.
Mr Adams then made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman's Office following articles in two newspapers that claimed members of the RUC had prior knowledge of the attack.
A Police Ombudsman team spoke with Mr Adams, to the soldiers who arrived on the scene, to bystanders, to the gunmen who carried out the attack and to a number of retired police officers.
Police Ombudsman investigators also spoke to journalists involved in the media reporting that claimed the RUC had known about the attack before it happened, but they said the journalists were unwilling to reveal where they had received the information.
The Police Ombudsman had the ammunition used in the attack examined independently by a firearms expert. He found no evidence that the items had been tampered with and said they had 'lethal potential'.
Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said: "We have talked to all the people involved in the events that day, including the perpetrators, the victims and the police. We have examined all the available evidence, including forensic and sensitive intelligence material and found no evidence that police knew of the attack beforehand."
(IT/JP)
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