Explosive devices, Londonderry
12 Sep 2009
Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin, District Commander for Foyle has condemned attacks against the relatives of a police officer on 11 September.
He said, "Three incidents in the city were carried out by terrorist criminals last night.
"In the first they acted as judge and jury and shot a young man in both legs and in his left hand. In two others, explosive devices were targeted at relatives of a Catholic police officer One was placed under a car and exploded. The other was put into a car and was defused by ATO.
"From what ATO has told us I have no doubt that if anyone had been close by when the device at Drumleck Gardens exploded it would have caused death or serious injury.
"The incidents in this city last night were attacks on the progress that society in Northern Ireland has made over the last 10 years.
"The bomb attacks in Springtown and Shantallow were attempts to intimidate the family of a Catholic police officer, an officer who wants to make a difference to society by stepping forward to serve his community. I have spoken to him and he is determined to carry on with his career and he has the support of his family.
"In spite of the threats, police officers here in Foyle and throughout Northern Ireland continue to step up to the mark and are determined to serve all in the community.
"That is in stark contrast to the terrorist criminal cowards who skulk about in the darkness and have nothing positive to offer our society.
"They are trying to intimidate Catholic officers and their families from taking the brave step of joining the police and trying to move society forward.
"That's what terrorist criminals are about, they seek to cause harm and destruction.
“The terrorists are trying to undermine the values that we stand for, but if the community stands with us, then together, we can combat them.
“A lot of good work is being done by the police and the community in this city. That is the kind of work that I would rather be talking about today, and which the community wants us to do.
“I don’t want to have officers standing at the scenes of terrorist crimes, I want them to be out there helping the community and deterring and detecting the crimes that matter to the community.
“Everything the terrorists do is in contrast to the bravery of the police officers who go about their duty in this city and across the Province. Of course they will be anxious at what has happened, and their families will be anxious, but they are determined to carry on doing work that is important, work that maters.”
