A damning report which said police officers failed to protect the lives of three Derry people in what became known as “the Good Samaritan” bombing has led to an association representing retired police officers enouraging its members not to engage with the Police Ombudsman on certain historical investigations.
The bomb flat at Kildrum Gardens where three people died.
It follows a report into a 1988 IRA bomb attack in Derry’s Creggan Estate that killed three people in which the Ombudsman criticised the police for failing to warn people about the bomb.
The Northern Ireland Retired Police Officers Association (NIRPOA) is encouraging its members to co-operate with the Ombudsman on historical investigations where breaches of the European Convention of Human Rights are alleged and has written to Justice Minister David Ford complaining about the report.
Two people – Eugene Dalton (55) and Sheila Lewis (60) in when a booby-trap device exploded in Kildrum Gardens in Creggan in August 1988. A third, Gerard Curran, was injured and died seven months later.
They had gone to the flat to check on the occupant who had been kidnapped by the IRA as part of the bomb plot. The incident became known as the “Good Samaritan” bombing.
Relatives of Mr Dalton claimed the police had been negligent in allowing civilians to approach the flat, alleging the police were aware that it had been booby-trapped.
This led to a number of complaints being lodged with the Police Ombudsman, one of which was that under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights the police failed in their responsibilities to uphold Mr Dalton’s right to life.
On 10 July this year, Police Ombudsman Michael Maguire published a Section 62 public statement that police failed to uphold the right to life of Mr Dalton.
Former Assistant Chief Constable Raymond White of the NIRPOA said: “In the view of the association, the lack of investigative rigour in the eight-year long (ombudsman) inquiry resulted in facts, which were not relevant to the process, becoming an integral part of the alleged evidential package considered by the ombudsman.
“The outcome of this was a failure on the part of the ombudsman to apply the evidential test to the relevant facts, ie those known to the police before the fatal incident or which reasonably should have been known to them.
“An allegation that Article 2 of the ECHR has been breached is a very grave and complex issue to be addressed.
“We have published a 30-page detailed rebuttal of the Police Ombudsman’s findings and demand the Section 62 statement be rescinded.”
The association wants all such Section 62 public statements halted until an independent legal mechanism for assessing evidence is put in place and also wants an independent appeals and complaints mechanism in relation to the ombudsman.
It said until these conditions were met “this association regrettably, can no longer encourage its members to engage with the Police Ombudsman in the investigation of historical incidents, where breaches of the European Convention on Human rights are alleged.”
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