Policing body chairman escapes letter bomb

The chairman of Strabane District Policing Partnership today vowed to remain in his post after a lethal letter bomb was sent to his home.

Tom McBride discovered the device packed inside a brown padded envelope when he returned from work last night.

He said that he and his family were lucky not to have been injured.

“It could have done some damage if it had been opened recklessly. I was suspicious of it. I opened it with a lot of caution.”

British army bomb experts defused the device at his home at Lisnarragh Road in Plumbridge shortly before midnight.

It is the second time he has been targeted by elements opposed to policing reforms.

Mr McBride added: “You always have to evaluate your role in these DPPs and especially the family’s needs but at this stage I will be staying in the DPP.”

In September, before the group had held its first public meeting, a number of members were attacked during a campaign by dissident republicans.

A hoax device was left outside Mr McBride’s front door, while a car belonging to independent member Arthur McGarrigle was burned at Our Lady of Mercy girls school in Strabane.

Another member, Mary McCrea, had her car destroyed in nearby Sion Mills.

Mr McBride said he was shocked and disappointed that elements within the community were still prepared to target members in this way.

“I would ask them to desist. They only represent a small minority of interests and generally the community is swinging behind the DPPs.

“Over the next year we will be looking at violent crime, domestic burglaries and domestic violence. I would put it that the vast majority of the community is interested in something positive being done about those issues,” he added.