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| Hyde Park bombing: Northern Ireland Police Federation ‘appalled at grubby secret deal’ that granted John Downey immunity | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Federation has described the amnesty given to 187 IRA suspects in 2007 as a “grubby secret deal”, after it emerged that a man accused of the Hyde Park bombing had accidentally been granted immunity from prosecution. | |
| The letter sent by the Northern Ireland Office to John Downey, 62, was described in the High Court yesterday as a “catastrophic failure” on the part of police and officials, who had missed the fact that a 30-year-old arrest warrant was still outstanding for the 1982 IRA attack. | |
| Mr Downey was arrested at Gatwick Airport in May last year despite receiving a written assurance from the Government in 2007 that he was not wanted for prosecution under a deal, struck as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, which gave protection to 187 “On The Run” wanted IRA suspects. | Mr Downey was arrested at Gatwick Airport in May last year despite receiving a written assurance from the Government in 2007 that he was not wanted for prosecution under a deal, struck as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, which gave protection to 187 “On The Run” wanted IRA suspects. |
| NI Police Federation chair Terry Spence today blamed the Government for what he calls a “grubby, secret deal” that was offered despite the fact officers in Northern Ireland were aware of the Old Bailey arrest warrant. | |
| He told the BBC: “None of us knew of the existence of this administrative scheme or what it entailed or the number of on-the-runs involved. There is a crying need for clarity as well as some honesty and decency. | He told the BBC: “None of us knew of the existence of this administrative scheme or what it entailed or the number of on-the-runs involved. There is a crying need for clarity as well as some honesty and decency. |
| “The government owes it to Police families to tell them, without any double-speak, that there is now no chance of them ever seeing justice being done in cases involving their relatives. | “The government owes it to Police families to tell them, without any double-speak, that there is now no chance of them ever seeing justice being done in cases involving their relatives. |
| “There were 211 unsolved murders of RUC officers prior to the Good Friday Agreement and it looks from this grubby, secret deal that they are to remain unsolved.” | “There were 211 unsolved murders of RUC officers prior to the Good Friday Agreement and it looks from this grubby, secret deal that they are to remain unsolved.” |
| The four victims of the Hyde Park bombing - Lieutenant Anthony Daly, Corporal Roy Bright, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young and Trooper Simon Tipper - were killed when a car bomb exploded as 16 members of the Household Cavalry Blues and Royals were passing for a Changing of the Guard ceremony. The blast also killed seven horses and injured 31 people. Mr Downey has always denied involvement in the Hyde Park Bombing. | The four victims of the Hyde Park bombing - Lieutenant Anthony Daly, Corporal Roy Bright, Lance Corporal Jeffrey Young and Trooper Simon Tipper - were killed when a car bomb exploded as 16 members of the Household Cavalry Blues and Royals were passing for a Changing of the Guard ceremony. The blast also killed seven horses and injured 31 people. Mr Downey has always denied involvement in the Hyde Park Bombing. |