Senior officers file affidavits on Omagh investigation

Two senior police officers have submitted signed affidavits to the Belfast High Court which could be used to back up the Police Ombudsman’s highly critical report of the RUC investigation into the Omagh Bomb investigation headed up by former Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.

The signed affidavits presented to the High Court in Belfast were made by Assistant Chief Constables Alan McQuillan and Sam Kincaid.

Their statements are said to contradict a statement made by Raymond White, who was head of Special Branch and CID at the time of the Real IRA bomb in August 1998, which killed 29 people.

Their statements are expected to help the position of Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan, whose scathing report into the investigation is being contested in the High Court by the Police Association of Northern Ireland, which represents all ranks including the Chief Constable.

The Police Association launched a major legal bid in February to quash the Police Ombudsman’s “unfair” and “factually inaccurate” report.

At the High Court in Belfast on March 21 Mr Justice Kerr granted leave to the Police Association for Northern Ireland to apply for Judicial Review of the Ombudsman's Report into the Omagh bombing.

The Ombudsman’s report published before Christmas last year concluded that the judgement and leadership of the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan and the assistant chief constable of the crime division were “seriously flawed”.

It also said: “The victims, their families and officers of the RUC have been let down by defective leadership, poor judgement and a lack of urgency.”

Sir Ronnie who said he felt “personally wronged by the report” hotly refuted these allegations. He claimed the report was not factual in content and “grossly unfair”.

(AMcE)