Police discharged a total of 30 baton rounds during a half hour period of serious disorder during an Orange Order parade along Belfast's Springfield Road on 12 July 2002.
The Parades Commission had previously determined that the parade should proceed, but that no music should be played as it passed along the Nationalist Springfield Road section of the route. The Commission had also determined that any protest by the Springfield Road Residents Action Group should not proceed beyond the junction of Colinpark Street and Springfield Road.
The early morning 'outward' parade by two Orange lodges from Whiterock Orange Hall towards the city centre passed off relatively peacefully. Around 100 protestors had gathered to heckle marchers and police maintained a low-key approach.
However, violence flared in the early evening before the scheduled return parade along the same route by one of the lodges. Police had reported a build up of people at Pollard Street in the Springfield Road area at about 6pm, with several hundred more people coming down the Springfield Road to join them.
Shortly after 6.15pm, police reported that petrol bombs, stones, fireworks and other missiles were being thrown in the area, and the crowd of protestors had grown to between 200 and 300 people. The crowd remained generally quiet until the gates at Lanark Way were opened at around 6.30pm in preparation for the parade coming through. Police reported that about this time vehicles were placed along the bottom of Pollard Road by protestors to form a roadblock. There was sporadic stone throwing and police units reported that paint bombs were being lined up in readiness at the side of the road. In addition, youths were seen carrying petrol bombs and pulling hoods and scarves over their faces.
At around 7.15pm the parade began to pass through the Lanark Way gates and police executed a planned 20 metre advance to push the protestors beyond Lanark Way. Police then reported coming under a sustained barrage of petrol bombs and fireworks, and permission was sought to deploy and use baton rounds. The protestors were pushed back into Cupar Street and police continued to come under attack with stones. Police reported that the disturbances prevented an ambulance from attending to a pregnant woman who was allegedly struck by a police baton.
At 7.24pm the protestors had moved back 50 yards and police units began to move back to Lanark Way, still under attack from petrol bombs. Police discharged baton rounds in response.
By 7.40pm all police and military units had extracted through the Lanark Way gates, which members of the crowd had doused in petrol and were attempting to force open. Further petrol bombs and stones were thrown at security forces, but by 8pm the area was largely quiet.
A total of 20 police officers were hurt during the disturbances. It has not been possible to assess the number of injuries sustained by protestors.
During their investigation of the circumstances in which the baton rounds were discharged, Police Ombudsman investigators reviewed a range of police documentary material. This included the PSNI command and control printout, operational order, briefing pack, diary extracts and decision records. Statements were also taken from eleven police officers and a local community representative. Video footage was sourced from police evidence gatherers, along with extracts of media coverage of the incident. The training records of baton gunners were also examined.
Outcome of investigation:
The Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, said it was evident from the evidence examined by her office that the police strategy for the operation had been carefully considered with regard to Human Rights legislation and, in particular, the rights of people to march and protest peacefully.
In the event, she said the violence which occurred was premeditated and could not be regarded "as a spontaneous reaction to any tactic that may have been employed by the police."
"The police response was both controlled and proportionate to the level of violence. The available evidence supports the conclusion that the discharge of baton rounds, in addition to other tactics, contributed to eventual order being restored on the Springfield Road and contributed to the safety of the police officers involved in the operation," said Mrs O'Loan.
Recommendations for police as a result of the Police Ombudsman's investigation:
- The Police Ombudsman noted that no oral public order warning had been issued before the discharge of baton rounds. Mrs O'Loan acknowledged that police had come under severe attack prior to the first discharge, and the officer responsible for issuing such a warning was temporarily incapacitated after being hit on the head by a missile. However, she stated that a warning could have been given after this and stated: "it may have been possible to allocate this task to other personnel at the scene, possibly inside a Land Rover fitted with a public address system. The necessity of giving such a warning should not be ignored."
- The report noted that baton gunners had not been allocated assistants to aid in recording details of baton gun discharges, despite an instruction to do so. The instruction was issued by the Urban Tactical Support Group Commander three weeks before the incident in response to a previous recommendation from the Police Ombudsman. Mrs O'Loan noted, however, that the instruction did seem to have been adhered to in subsequent incidents.
- The Police Ombudsman noted that only two of the discharges had been captured by police video evidence gatherers. She reiterated a previous recommendation that the officer accompanying the baton gunner should be equipped or assisted by either video or audio equipment to enhance the evidential value of the role. "It is understandable that an officer cannot recall multi-shots in a short time period and likely that, even if accompanied, a complete record will not be available without technical assistance," said Mrs O'Loan. "It is accepted that the PSNI have developed a pilot project to test recording equipment."