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Thursday, 09 September 2010

Crumlin device designed to kill

A suspect device is being examined by army bomb squad officers near Crumlin police station

A viable device at the centre of a security alert in Crumlin, Co Antrim, was a "clear attempt to kill police", a senior officer has said.

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A primary school was among a number of properties which had to be evacuated on Wednesday after a bomb was found at an unmanned police station in the Mill Road area.

Crumlin Integrated Primary remained closed for a second day following the incident.

The device was removed by the Army bomb squad for further examination.

It is believed to have been a sophisticated device with a tripwire leading from it.

Area Commander for Antrim, Chief Inspector Simon Walls, said: "This was a viable device which was clearly meant to hurt or kill officers who are serving the local community.

"The actions of those who planted this device go beyond reckless. This was left in an area which is close to a primary school - if this had exploded we could now be dealing with injuries or fatalities."

He added: "The criminals who left this device have no regard for any member of the Crumlin community.

"The security alert brought the whole area to a standstill, caused a frightening situation for young children and left parents worried and concerned about the safety of their kids."

Police believe the bomb was planted sometime between Monday night and Wednesday morning.

They are particularly keen to speak to anyone who noticed any unusual activity around Crumlin United football pitch.

PUP representative Ken Wilkinson says more needs to be done to make unmanned police stations secure across the region.

"A sophisticated device was left here with, I believe, some kind of tripwire attached, so that whoever entered the police station - and that could have been police or people carrying out maintenance... It could have been set off by anything including a cat prowling about", Mr Wilkinson told UTV.

"Those who did this do not care about anyone in the community whatsoever."

A local SDLP MLA believes there needs to be more robust action against pipe-bombers.

"The police really need to step up to the mark here and get people arrested, sentenced and put away. If people are absolutely intent on causing trouble and disruption, then I believe they need to be taken out of society and put in jail", Thomas Burns told UTV.

Crumlin Integrated was the third school affected by security alerts in the Antrim area this week.

St Comgall's Primary was evacuated on Monday after a pipe bomb, believed to have been planted by the Real UFF, was picked up by an eight-year-old pupil in the playground.

Also on Monday, children were evacuated from St Joseph's on the Greystone Road after a telephone bomb warning - but nothing suspicious was found.

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4 Comments

At 19:49 on 10 September 2010, anon wrote:

im from this planet, my child attends crumlin you silly person how dare you imply im the sort of person i would let a child walk infront of a device. i asked wat device it was because i have been told that it wasnt even a bomb and im over reacating, so wot i ment by cover up is that the goverment dont want us to no the real damage what would have been done because of the children involved and so they dont have uproar. so i think u should get your facts straight.

At 17:08 on 10 September 2010, MIKE wrote:

I agree ME I think what anon is trying to say is If anyone knows anythingthey should let the Police know ,Of course someone some where knows who is responsible .Ithink what anon means is is this another collusion effort maybe a tout /informer is being protected ! ask yourselves this, why are so many being planted and no one caught on camera, by the police on route etc. lI had posted another comment here but UTV declined to Publich it so i sent others to other media outlets stating that these dissidents must been know to someone ,and I dread to think some where in its ranks a stakeknife mm reflect on that ! someone knows the truth . The weapons that WERE SUPPOSED to have been de commisioned are now in use by dissidents. THEY WERE ILLEGAL weapons ILLEGAL ! if a member of the public were caught with them we would be banged up but NO these alleged weapons are ok in the hands of terrorists .

At 10:49 on 10 September 2010, Me wrote:

What planet is the person who wrote cover up on...It a device are you the sort of person who would let children walk into it or some member of the public. These cowards are just trying to kill or injure a police officer or any one that walks into it. Just like Lurgan a device in a bin that nearly killed kids so it that being covered up aswell. Either your stupid or hav'nt a clue what your talking about. These dissibents are not worried who or what they destroy let the police do all they can to get them and bring them to justice if not get the army back on the streets to do the job right..Bring back security on the streets ...

At 16:54 on 09 September 2010, anon wrote:

does any1 have any real infomation on what kind of device it was cos it seems there is a massive cover up