Police Honour Ulster Bomb Heroes

Two Co Tyrone men have been honoured for their selfless bravery as police forces across the UK recognise members of the public for remarkable acts of bravery.

Alistair Parr and Paddy Douglas from Aughnacloy who were nominated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have been awarded the highest accolade, the Gold Award.

They have received the award for their courage and bravery when a 300lb bomb had been left outside a police station in Aughnacloy in June 2010.

The award took place at the annual Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) National Public Bravery Awards in Harrogate.

The awards recognise members of the general public for their action, which support the police in preserving law and order.

A coded bomb warning was received at 10.10pm on Thursday 17 June last year with information that it would detonate within one hour.

Police were deployed to the area and they telephoned residents living close to the police station in an effort to speed the evacuation.

On the police's arrival in the village, both Alistair and Paddy had been notified by neighbours of the bomb and had already evacuated 18 -22 homes in the immediate area.

Mr Douglas had put his wife and children in a car and they were driven safely out of the area.

He then turned his attention to ensuring the safety of his neighbours.

Without any consideration of his own safety he made his way toward the device, knocking on doors and warning the residents of the bomb.

Terrorists

He was then joined by Mr Parr who also made the neighbours aware of the bomb and while both Mr Parr and Mr Douglas were notifying neighbours of the incident they were at times just less than 60 metres from the device and in fact - both men did not leave the area until after 11.00pm.

After the evacuation had been completed Mr Parr then received numerous telephone calls and text messages from friends and relatives of residents to say that they had returned back to their homes in the belief that the device was a hoax.

He not only passed this information to the police, but also again insisted in accompanying the police back into the scene to assist in evacuating the people once again.

Police officers had warned him of the danger, however knowing this, he still insisted on accompanying the officers and re-entered the scene three times.

Mr Parr's actions included travelling in a police car to the home of an elderly lady and carrying her off the premises.

He then received information of a further eight people who had re-entered the scene.

Knowing the high number involved Mr Parr brought his on car and took a number of individuals to safety.

On a third occasion he informed police of a further five persons in a house in the Carnteel Road area and again assisted the police with their evacuation.

Speaking about the awards PSNI Assistant Chief Constable, Drew Harris said: "Both of these men have shown tremendous courage and bravery in a time when a viable device was no further than 60 meters away.

"To receive the Gold award from the Association of Chief Police Officers is the highest accolade that ACPO can present to members of the public. As a consequence of their bravery, they undoubtedly helped evacuate the area in a much faster time. I would like to congratulate them on their achievement.

"I would also like to thank the police officers in Aughnacloy for their dedication and how they responded to the coded warning," he concluded.

(BMcC/GK)