A SECURITY alert in the Shantallow area of Derry has been declared an elaborate hoax.
A number of homes were evacuated after a device was discovered at Drumleck Drive yesterday morning. Army technical officers were called to the scene but later declared it a hoax.
It is understood the device was declared at the home of the elderly parents of a serving police officer.
The incident is the latest in a number of attacks on the family. In 2012 a pipe bomb, with a lit fuse, was left outside the property.
In September 2009, a similar device exploded under a family car while an unexploded bomb was found outside the home of the police officer’s sister, also in Derry. In 2006, four petrol bombs were thrown at the officer’s own home while he was a PSNI recruit.
SDLP councillor for Shantallow Brian Tierney described the latest incident as “absolutely disgraceful.”
Mr Tierney said: Those responsible need to get off the backs of this community. While the alert was later confirmed to be an elaborate hoax, the inconvenience and fear this incident caused to the community is shameful.
“It’s time those responsible caught themselves on. The message from the community in Shantallow to those responsible is to wise up.”
Police have appealed for information.
