Parcel bombs sent to prison chief and policing board members
The Prison Service confirmed one of the bombs was addressed to the Governor of Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim.
Four others had been addressed to members of District Policing Partnerships (DPP) which were set up as part of policing reforms.
Postal staff discovered the first three bombs in the sorting office in Mallusk, Co Antrim. The others where found by police searching through 500,000 items of mail by hand after the building was evacuated.
The devices were “crude but viable” said the Police Service and contained petrol so could not be found by sniffer dogs. All the devices were made safe.
Peter Russell, director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, said later: “Those behind this have no idea who is going to open such a package and be injured.”
There was no claim of responsibility, though local politicians put the blame on dissident republicans.
However, both loyalists and dissident republicans have been engaged in campaigns against DPP members and against the prison regime in Maghaberry.
The closure of the sorting office is set to cause major disruption to mail deliveries across the North.
Denis Bradley, the vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board said DPP members in to whom the bombs had been addressed remained determined to continue their work.
“I have talked to some of these people whose names were attached to some of these devices and they are very resolute and very determined,” he said.
Mr Bradley, who has himself been targeted by dissident republicans, said it was disgraceful that the bombs had been sent.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan blamed the Real IRA for the bombs and said they were a deliberate attempt to kill and main.
