No details from PSNI on Clough post box bomb

No details from PSNI on Clough post box bomb

12 December 2012

POLICE are remaining tight-lipped after the discovery of a letter bomb outside Clough on Thursday evening.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for information on the incident, which saw a viable device left inside a post box in the Mountpanther area of the Dundrum Road.

A report of a man seen acting suspiciously at a post box in the area was received at around 9pm on Thursday. Police subsequently sealed off the area and tasked Army Technical Officers to the scene.

Examinations later carried out on the suspicious object found it was a viable device capable of causing death or serious injury.

Detectives have refused to rule out any theories or comment on any named individual, but Alliance councillor Patrick Clarke said the incident was definitely not connected to threats made to his party following the recent Union Flag row at Belfast City Hall.

He said like all Alliance representative he had been warned to take security precautions, but that the letter bomb was not linked to this trouble.

“I feel very sorry for my colleagues in Belfast,” he said. “I also condemn the actions of those who were behind leaving this letter bomb in our area.”

MP Margaret Ritchie also condemned the “attempt to either maim or kill”.

“This activity and others like it have to stop,” she said. “Everyone thought we were entering a new phase of politics and life in 1998 and left this sort of thing to the past where it belongs.

“It’s now time people stepped up to the plate and renounced violence of all kinds and showed not only respect to all kinds of political difference but respect to health and life.”

Councillor Carmel O’Boyle, chairwoman of the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), added: “That this letter bomb should have been left in our district is appalling and I condemn it utterly.”

A police spokesman said no arrests had been made to date.

“We cannot confirm the address the parcel was intended for as that will all form part of our overall investigation,” he said. “The circumstances of this incident are continuing to be investigated and we would appeal for anyone who noticed anyone acting suspiciously in the area of the Dundrum Road area of Clough on the evening of Thursday, December 6 to contact police on 0845 600 8000.

“Or, if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details, they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111.”