Army warning after man took viable pipebomb from playing children

The man who took a pipebomb away from children who had been playing with it probably saved them from death or serious maiming — but also put his own life in danger.

Commandant Michael Doyle, the press officer for the Defence Forces in Cork, said the pipebomb discovered at a green in Gurranabraher was viable and could have caused serious harm.

He compared the situation to a case in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, last June when a five-year-old boy picked up a pipebomb outside his house. He lost a number of fingers as a result.

The man intervened when he saw children playing with the device at Churchfield Avenue at around 5.10pm on Monday.

He put the pipebomb in the boot of his car and drove it to Gurranabraher Garda Station.

Gardaí immediately recognised its potential danger, called the bomb disposal squad, and evacuated the station.

The bomb was made safe by the Army experts before it was handed over to gardaí to help them with their investigation.

“The man obviously thought he was doing the right thing. But he also put his life in danger. If such a device is spotted, the area should be immediately cleared and the gardaí notified,” said Cmdt Doyle.

He said people shouldn’t touch such a device, but rather clear everybody from the area and immediately contact the gardaí informing them of its size, shape, colour and so on.

It is possible that such devices are fitted with ‘tremblers’ which activate the explosive if moved. This is one of the reasons the Army don’t want the public tampering with any devices.

Detectives yesterday spoke to a number of children — in the company of their guardians — who had been playing in the area when the pipebomb was spotted.

It is understood that some of the children, who were as young as six, had handled the device before the man, who is aged in his 30s, took it off them.

Six gardaí who were on duty at the station when the man brought it in had to evacuate the building for nearly two hours as the device was disarmed.

A Garda spokesman said it was fortunate that they hadn’t been dealing with a fatality.

They are trying to find out how the pipebomb ended up in the communal play area and have appealed for anybody with information to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station at 021 4946200.