Car bomb was 'deliberate, reckless, stupid' attack, says police chief

A car bomb which exploded outside a police station was a "deliberate, reckless and stupid attack", Northern Ireland's police chief has said.

Jon Boutcher praised the bravery of officers who "rushed towards danger" to evacuate family homes close to Dunmurry police station on Saturday night.

The device detonated while police were directing local residents to safety, including families with young babies.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) believes dissident republicans carried out the bombing, which is being treated as attempted murder.

Boutcher was speaking at a press conference at Stormont, during which the first and deputy first ministers and the Policing Board chair also condemned the attack.

"We thought it was really crucially important today that we stood here together with a united voice," First Minister Michelle O'Neill said.

She said the bomb had put people's lives at risk and "showed a blatant disregard for the local community".

O'Neill added it was an "extremely terrifying ordeal" for the delivery driver who was forced to transport the bomb to its target.

The man's vehicle had been hijacked at gunpoint in Twinbrook, west Belfast, shortly after 22:50 BST on Saturday.

His vehicle was then fitted with a gas cylinder device before he was ordered to bring the bomb to the station, where it exploded.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly said she was "absolutely appalled" by the bombing.

"It is vitally important that we send a very clear message this morning that we stand shoulder to shoulder in clear and unequivocal condemnation of this attack."

Boutcher called the bombers "mindless idiots" and urged anyone with information to contact the PSNI "before these people actually harm or kill somebody".

The chair of the Policing Board, Brendan Mullan, commended the courage of officers who came out their station, past the bomb, to evacuate homes.

He said their bravery "stands in stark contrast to the cowardice of those that forced a delivery driver to bring a device and park it outside the police station".

Speaking on the BBC's Nolan Show earlier on Monday, Boutcher hailed the deliver driver's reaction as "incredibly brave".

He said the man "alerted police staff and officers as to what had happened" which enabled the evacuation of residents.

The attack took place in a built-up area, close to family homes in which many children were already in bed asleep.

"Fortunately, and it's only through good fortune, that nobody was seriously injured or killed," Boutcher said.

"No one has yet claimed responsibility, but we are expecting to hear a claim of responsibility, and from what we know it may will likely be again the New IRA."

A pensioner who lives in the house closest to where it exploded says he is "very fortunate" not to have been hit by the blast.

John McGuinness, 72, was in the porch of his home, and about to leave with his partner, when the bomb went off.

"I put my foot in the porch and bomb went off," John told BBC News NI.

"If we'd gone out one minute earlier … we'd have been in the absolute full of the blast.

"We were very fortunate."

On Saturday evening, McGuinness was watching snooker on TV when the police came to his door and told him he needed to leave the house immediately.

"It's absolutely terrible, you think this (a bomb attack) is in the past.

"What do they expect to achieve? I'm quite angry about it actually."

The blast also caused problems for local businesses, including the Dunmurry Dental Practice which was very close to the bomb site.

"We've a bit of superficial damage - some ridge tiles broke, roof tiles broken," said dentist Philip McLorinan.

"A bit of dust, bit of disturbance inside the building but we're just extremely fortunate we have a building to come back to today."

The dentist added that the attack was "really disruptive" as the surgery has "thousands of patients here relying on appointments every day of the week".

However, McLorinan insisted it would be "business as usual".

One resident forced to leave his home during the evacuation on Saturday said the bomb sounded like a car crashing into a wall.

Father-of-two Joe Morgan lives about 110 yards from Dunmurry police station.

His children - aged two and four - were asleep and he was getting ready for bed himself when he heard a "loud bang".

"I grew up at the tail end of the Troubles, so my mind didn't actually immediately go to an explosion, he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I thought it was maybe a vehicle that had crashed into something in the street or my house."

Police officers then began knocking on doors in his street, advising residents to evacuate in case there was a secondary device.

"Your brain starts going 100 miles a minute," Morgan recalled.

He said he tried to stay calm while he packed some belongings, but admitted that the "adrenaline is going quite a bit at this point".

His pregnant wife was staying at her mother's house on Saturday night and he said he was "grateful" she was not at home at the time. His family returned home on Sunday evening.

By Mark Simpson, BBC News NI community correspondent

The reckless nature of the car bomb shows the danger posed by violent dissident republicans.

Groups like the New IRA have only a very small number of activists and minimal support, but they have deadly intent.

A similar attack to Dunmurry took place at Lurgan police station last month but the device did not explode.

Security experts will be looking closely at the two attacks to assess what it means in terms of the level of threat and the current capabilities of violent groups.

The police in Northern Ireland have largely contained violent republicans in recent years, but the two attacks are a reminder that security chiefs cannot be complacent.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday afternoon as MPs condemned the attack, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn paid tribute to what he called the "extraordinary efforts" of the PSNI.

"It is their tireless work that keeps our communities safe and this government will continue to support these efforts as together we seek to bring those responsible for terrorism to account," he added.

Boutcher told the Nolan Show that the PSNI "haven't been supported" when compared to counterparts across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

"There are all sorts of reasons for that, some of which are linked to the fact we are not funded for legacy by the government in Westminster and decisions have been made here to put funding towards other public services rather than policing."

Asked if the PSNI receives enough support from Stormont's two largest parties, Sinn Féin and the DUP, Boucher claimed he doesn't "think any of us are doing enough, and I have spoken to those political leaders about that".

"Everybody linking arm-in-arm, should be standing together shoulder-to-shoulder, standing up for policing in Northern Ireland in a way that I am accustomed to elsewhere, and has that happened the way I want it to here? No, it hasn't."

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank and file PSNI officers, described the bombing as "the definition of madness".

"This doesn't move the needle towards any particular goal," said its chair Liam Kelly.

"All it does is show that there are still people who want to murder my colleagues and deliver pain and suffering in our communities."

The term "dissident republicans" describes a range of individuals who do not accept the Good Friday Agreement.

The Provisional IRA - the main armed republican paramilitary group for most of the Troubles - declared a ceasefire in the run up to the agreement and officially ended its violent campaign in 2005.

Dissident republicanism is made up of various groups which broke away from the Provisional IRA, including the Continuity IRA and New IRA.

The groups are much smaller than the Provisional IRA, although they have access to high-calibre weapons and explosive devices.