Londonderry car bombing nothing to do with Brexit, NI Secretary insists
A car bombing outside a court in Londonderry had nothing to do with Brexit, the Northern Ireland Secretary has insisted.
Karen Bradley said no one should try to draw a link with Saturday’s dissident republican terror attack in Derry, just a few miles from the border, with the impasse over the UK’s exit from the European Union and the wrangle over how to deal with the frontier between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Ms Bradley’s statement to the Commons came hours after detectives investigating the bombing detained a fifth suspect.
Monday also saw two significant security alerts in Derry, triggered by the hijacking of two vehicles by masked men.
Ms Bradley told MPs that the weekend bomb blast on Bishop Street, which caused no injuries, had “absolutely nothing to do with Brexit”.
“Nobody should try and draw any connection between what happened on Saturday night and any of the discussions we are having in this place or with our friends in Europe, the attack that happened on Saturday night is a result of a threat level that has been in place since before the Brexit vote,” she said.
“These are plots and activities that these people have been working on and trying to carry out for many, many years and we need to be clear with them that those activities are not welcome, the people of Northern Ireland do not want to see this kind of activity on their streets.”
A dissident republican grouping that styles itself as the New IRA has been blamed for the bombing outside Bishop Street court.
Dramatic CCTV footage of the incident released by police showed a group of people walking past the car containing the bomb just minutes before the explosion.
The 50 -year-old man arrested on Monday was detained under the Terrorism Act.
Four men arrested on Sunday also remained in police custody on Monday evening.
Officers probing the dissident republican bombing on Saturday night arrested the latest suspect for questioning about an armed robbery in the city last Tuesday.
The arrest came as police investigated two vehicle hijackings in the Creggan area of Derry on Monday.
ATO have carried out a controlled explosion on the hijacked vehicle in the Circular Road area of Derry/Londonderry. A number of homes remain evacuated and cordons remain. We continue to ask the public for their patience, and thank them for their co-operation.
— PSNI DC&S District (@PSNIDCSDistrict) January 21, 2019
In the first incident, three masked men reportedly hijacked a white Transit van in the Circular Road area at around 11.30am before throwing an object in the back and abandoning the vehicle. Army bomb disposal experts later carried out a controlled explosion on the van.
Just over two hours later, at 1.45pm, police received a report that four masked men – one allegedly armed with a gun – hijacked a postal delivery van on Southway.
Police said the two occupants of the van were ordered to drive the vehicle to the Lonemoor Road and leave it there.
Both incidents prompted sizeable security alerts, with nearby residents evacuated.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Superintendent Gordon McCalmont warned of widespread disruption.
“We understand the effect this will have on the local community, but we will not take any chances when it comes to keeping people safe,” he said.
Ms Bradley told the Commons that a “crude, unsophisticated” explosive device was used in Saturday’s bomb attack and said CCTV had showed “teenagers and others passing by only minutes before the device detonated”.
She said: “It is sobering to think that a truly sickening outcome by those responsible was only narrowly averted.”
The Conservative MP added: “Those who planned this attack and who placed this crude device in a busy city centre have absolutely no regard for the people who live and work there.”
