Omagh report calls for independent probe of RUC actions

The Police Ombudsman’s report into the handling of the investigation into the Omagh bombing has recommended that a senior officer independent of the North’s police service should carry out a full inquiry into the matter.

The report, which was shown to the families of the Omagh victims today, criticises the way the RUC handled warnings of a republican attack and the subsequent hunt for those responsible. The report also calls for a full review of Special Branch procedures.

Last week, it emerged that the RUC Special Branch had received two warnings about an imminent republican attack. The first warning, received 11 days before the bombing, referred to a planned attack on RUC officers in Omagh with AK-47s and rocket launchers on August 15, 1998.

The same informer then apparently rang his Special Branch handler two days before the Omagh bombing, in which 29 people died, to say that republicans had manufactured a bomb, although the target was not mentioned.

The Special Branch never passed this information onto officers on the ground in Omagh, claiming the tip-off was unreliable.

The Police Ombudsman’s report has not been published yet, but it is understood to be scathing in its criticism of the RUC.

The report says it is not possible to know if the advance warning could have prevented the bombing, but adds that if the RUC had erected roadblocks around Omagh it could have deterred the bombers.

Kevin Skelton, whose wife died in the Omagh atrocity, said: "I believe if the investigation had been done properly, the murderers would have been brought to justice."