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Loughinisland murders: What the police did right

The initial police response to the Loughinisland murders `was appropriate and timely'
The initial police response to the Loughinisland murders `was appropriate and timely' The initial police response to the Loughinisland murders `was appropriate and timely'
  •  Police were "commended" for the use of informants to provide information which led to the recovery of a large number of the weapons. The ombudsman remarked: "It is unlikely these items would have been recovered if there had not been informers within the ranks of loyalist paramilitaries."  
  •  Many within the RUC and PSNI "worked tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice".  
  •  Police were aware of plans by the UVF, UDA and Ulster Resistance to import a significant consignment of weaponry to Northern Ireland in 1987 and knew about the arrival of the shipment shortly after it was landed.  
  •  Officers regained track of cars after losing them during a surveillance operation in January 1988 and a checkpoint on Mahon Road near Portadown, saw three men arrested and a substantial amount of the shipment recovered - the men were convicted of terrorism-related offences nine months later.  
  •  Local detectives investigated the seizure and "the majority of these officers acted as professionally as they could".  
  •  Without help from Special Branch and "through their own efforts", detectives deduced the weapons may have been retrieved from a farm and "set about trying to find it, but without success".  
  •  On February 4 and 5 police recovered a "significant number of firearms" at Flush Road in north Belfast believed to be part of the importation.  
  •  Upon the arrival of emergency services, including police, at the Heights Bar acted "quite correctly" - the preservation of life was prioritised over scene preservation and the initial police response to the murders "was appropriate and timely".  
  •  A major incident contingency plan, Operation Aristocrat, was quickly initiated, the crime scene was secured within 20 minutes of police arriving and a number of police and military vehicle check points directed.  
  •  Within 24 hours of the attack, Special Branch provided detectives with the names and details of people they believed responsible.  
  •  There was no evidence the security forces were aware the UVF were planning to mount an attack in Loughinisland.