Northern Ireland’s police chief said today he regretted that his officers did not reach the scene of a car bomb before it exploded but refused to criticise the commanders who decided to hold back.
Residents in the south Armagh town of Newtownhamilton accused the police of abandoning them last week when they failed to evacuate the area prior to the dissident republican blast, leaving local fire officers to clear nearby houses.
Thursday night’s bomb in a Toyota Corolla detonated 50 minutes after a hospital received a telephone warning from the perpetrators - who also fired a volley of shots as they abandoned the vehicle.
Two people, including a woman in her 80s, sustained minor injuries.
Police, who didn’t arrive until ten minutes after the bomb went off, held back amid fears of a secondary booby trap or gun attack.
Chief constable Matt Baggott said he understood local people’s concern but claimed there could have been further injuries or even fatalities if the police had rushed into a waiting trap.
“I have absolute sympathy with their reaction,” he said.
“A bomb went off and the police weren’t there and you can’t move away from that, so I have absolute sympathy.
“All I ask for is for some understanding of the huge dilemmas faced by local commanders which was if we rush in too early we may have a greater loss of life of police and public than if we take a measured approach to it.
“And they are the very, very real decisions they have to make in a very short space of time.
Meanwhile, it was reported tonight that a road running between the two main court buildings in Belfast was to be closed off with barriers because of the risk of a dissident attack.
The road between the Royal Courts of Justice and the Laganside courts was built as part of a redevelopment of the area.
It is not open to normal traffic but is used by buses and by motorists visiting or working at the courts. However the new barriers will close it off to all traffic, the BBC said.
The Laganside complex houses magistrates’ courts, crown courts as well as many administrative staff for the Northern Ireland Courts Service. The Royal Courts of Justice houses the High Court as well as a number of civil courts.
PA