Nigel Goddard reflects on Derry Easter disorder and bomb discovery from policing perspective

The Derry and Strabane Commander said it was ‘extremely disappointing’ trouble flared during an unauthorised republican demonstration on Easter Monday, describing those who left four pipe bombs in the City Cemetery as ‘completely reckless’.

Chief Superintendent Goddard said he was made aware of previous outbreaks of disorder at Easter in his first days in the job.

"One of the first things I was briefed on by everybody I met was the outfall from the previous year's Easter Monday events and different perceptions from within the community as to the impact of that,” he said.

He admitted the organisers of the Easter Monday parade did not engage with him directly but he did engage widely.

"I brought together a cross-section of the Creggan community and republicans to have a conversation with me about what would their advice be to me about how to go about it. I also included the local priests in that area,” he said.

Ch/Supt. Goddard said his goal was for all parades to be notified under the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998.

"We continued to try to get to that position but it became clear ultimately that the organisers weren't going to put in a Parades Commission notification,” he said.

Over the course of the weekend the PSNI faced criticism from some who claimed police should ignore the non-notification.

"I continued to emphasise my operation was intended to be as low key and as proportionate as possible but, and I know people in the community were saying to me – 'why don't you just ignore it completely, it's a republican parade, Creggan, just ignore it?'

"But the reality is, as a professional police officer, I have a responsibility to do two things, to try to prevent crimes occurring and, secondly, if they do occur, gather evidence to allow us to investigate.

"Whilst I might not consider a PPA offence of non-notification to be the most serious crime in the world it is something that I have a professional duty to enforce and try to discourage from being broken.

"I made a number of appeals through local press and statements saying, 'put your form in and I'll piss off, effectively' or ‘I’ll monitor it from the air, use other resources’, which we would have done."

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In the absence of a notification PSNI officers had had to tell those participating in the demonstration they were doing so in contravention of the PPA.

"My operation I carried through as best as I intended. All the stuff about a police invasion of the community and all that nonsense? There were two police Land Rovers there. I have to give them a warning to say you are participating in an unnotified parade and I have to do that legally, orally and with a big sign that they can read,” he stated.

As one of the Land Rovers was stationed at Iniscarn Road it came under attack.

"We had the helicopter and the drone. We could see people, before the parade started, supplying [young people] with, bringing out a crate of petrol bombs for them, and organising them and telling them what they were going to do.

"So that was particularly disappointing. I carried out my operation as much as I could. I didn't flood the area. I didn't try to block or stop the parade as I said I wouldn't,” he insisted.

Four pipe bombs were later discovered inside the Cemetery.

“It was clear those were intended, had we had an operation that drove Land Rovers into Creggan, stopped the parade, tried to prevent it processing, those were coming at us.

"Viable pipe bombs would have been thrown at us. The intelligence was right. They would have caused significant injury, potentially to officers and to some of the young people,” he said.

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The pipe bombs appeared more uniform than the bent pipes packed with gunpowder that are sometimes exhibited.

“They are naturally crude devices but they did appear to be relatively well constructed as opposed to two bits of pipe crimped together. There was an element of engineering in that.

"We don't have information at this point in time as to where they were constructed, and whether they were brought from elsewhere but it is an obvious line or conclusion to come to that we may well have somebody who now has some engineering expertise in constructing that kind of stuff here,” he replied.

Ch/Supt. Goddard has no doubt about how deadly they could have been.

"They are like hand grenades. There is shrapnel from it. The explosion, when it cuts up. It would certainly leave somebody significantly maimed for the rest of their lives if they are in the wrong place. It could kill.”

The PSNI faced criticism for the time it took to clear the cemetery as ATO dealt with the pipe bombs on Easter Tuesday.

The use of radio jamming equipment, in particular, was criticised by some local residents who said radio, phone and internet communications were knocked out causing disruption.

Ch/Supt. Goddard said this was a public safety measure to prevent remote detonation of bombs.

"Ultimately, community safety, individual safety is primary in the eyes of the military people who do the devices.

"Their only concern: their own safety and the safety of their community and remote detonation is a concern so they use the electronic countermeasures.

"They do use them for as minimum a period as they feel is safe to and we do make relevant representations to them to say, you know, the disruption, let's speed this up.

"They don’t work quickly, because they work in an extremely dangerous environment. So it is acknowledged, it is accepted. I apologise, for the disruption it causes. The responsibility for it lies clearly with the people who left the devices and continue to try to disrupt and cause harm.”

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