Security was cleared by RUC: Teebane company
Cedric Blackbourne from Karl Construction, steps forward to lay flowers at the scene of the Teebane Massacre during the service marking the 20th anniversary of the atrocity.mm03-144ar.
A CONSTRUCTION company that employed 14 men killed or maimed in the Teebane bombing have refuted the findings of a police cold case report which claimed they had failed to notify the RUC they were travelling on the road.
The review by the Historical Enquiries Team stated that Antrim-based Karl Construction did not take appropriate vehicle safety measures to help prevent its workers from becoming the target of terrorists as they travelled from Magherafelt to Omagh in January 1992.
Last month, relatives of those who were killed in the IRA blast released the HET report to the media days before the 20th anniversary.
Speaking to the News Letter, Cedric Blackbourne, the CEO of Karl construction, said he was “devastated” to read extracts of the report and revealed that his company was not contacted by any HET officers before publishing their findings to the victims’ families.
In a statement, released to the News Letter, the company said: “The opinion of the directors, including Cedric Blackbourne, was that all Karl vehicles were either travelling on secure routes or with security cover under the direction of the RUC.
“OPS Antrim did not at any time state to Karl security staff that the transport vehicle collecting the workmen and travelling from Antrim via Magherafelt and Cookstown to Omagh was not on a secure route.”
The HET report went on to state that no-one in Karl Construction was nominated to both send and receive information about designated routes to the police at the time.
In response, the construction company stated: “Karl do not agree that the RUC had no single point of contact as the company provided a member of staff at Springfarm yard for information on transport of operatives to Omagh.
“This arrangement and all information being provided by Karl was put in place with advice and assistance from the RUC.”
The HET report also said: “Questions over the authenticity of a company fax, claimed to have been sent to the RUC the day before the atrocity detailing the start and finish times, pick-up and drop-off of the 14 workers travelling in the minibus on the main Omagh to Cookstown road, are raised in the report.”
But Karl Construction said: “The insinuation that documents were falsified is strenuously denied by the company and by the individual member of security liaison.”
They added: “One fact remains, the RUC were aware of the men travelling to and from work at Lisnanelly Barracks but never drew Karl Construction’s attention to this lack of security or offered any advice for them to pass to their staff.
“Karl Construction’s directors and staff involved with this project should have been given the opportunity to provide evidence to the HET in line with the opportunity afforded to the RUC and others.”
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the HET said: “HET reviews are concerned with the circumstances of Troubles-related deaths and seek to answer any questions raised by families.
“In some cases this can lead to a review of ancillary matters – in this case, continuing controversy over security arrangements for the workers travelling to and from the Army base in Omagh.
“This aspect of the review, which has been made public and discussed in the media, did not uncover any different or new material evidence that was not considered in the previous RUC and PSNI investigations, and thus did not require any parties to be further interviewed.”
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
