https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn7rvgpd6k4o

La Mon bombing report likely to criticise police investigation

Image source, PacemakerImage caption,

The bomb, placed outside a window, was attached to cans of petrol mixed with sugar, sending a huge fireball into the hotel

Julian O'NeillBBC News NI crime and justice correspondent

• Published11 December 2024, 00:10 GMT

Updated 3 minutes ago

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) is to publish a report later on the IRA firebomb attack on the La Mon Hotel, outside Belfast, which killed 12 people.

The attack on 17 February 1978 at the County Down venue is considered one of the most horrific attacks of the Troubles.

A bomb, placed outside a window, was attached to cans of petrol mixed with sugar, sending a huge fireball into the hotel, where 400 people were attending a dance.

The watchdog's report is likely to be critical of aspects of the original investigation.

Those murdered, all Protestants, included three married couples.

More than 30 people were injured.

They were attending an Irish Collie Club event.

Image source, PacemakerImage caption,

Twelve people were killed in the La Mon bombing

The PONI report follows an examination of a complaint made about the initial investigation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).

It was submitted by Ulster Human Rights Watch (UHRW) and included statements from some of the bereaved families and survivors.

UHRW has pointed out that a 2012 review of the case by the Historical Enquiries Team revealed police interview notes had gone missing.

It has questioned whether IRA members were protected because they were working as state agents at the time or later.

'I want to reach justice'

Image caption,

Andrea Nelson said she wanted the "fullest picture" of what happened on that day

Andrea Nelson was 14 at the time her parents Paul and Dorothy were murdered at La Mon.

She said the atrocity was "needless" and that she and her sister Melanie have lived the last 46 years "with a big hole in our hearts".

Speaking ahead of the report's publication, she added: "It will be a difficult day.

"I want the fullest picture of what happened.

"Once we've had a chance to read and reflect on the report, I think we will be in a better place to understand is this now the final uncovering the stone?

"I want to feel I have done everything I could to reach justice for my mummy and daddy and bring closure, if that's possible."

Image caption,

Families of the La Mon victims outside the Police Ombudsman's office in Belfast

She added: "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the active members of that IRA cell who placed the bomb.

"So I'd like us not to lose sight of the architects of the evening of La Mon, because it wasn't simply around the police investigation afterwards, actually the activity carried out by that IRA cell is really at the heart of it."

'Eerily quiet'

One of the first reporters on the scene was former BBC News NI journalist Mervyn Jess – at the time he was in his second year as a junior reporter at a local newspaper.

"At that stage, I had no prior experience of, let's just say, the Troubles at that level," he said.

When he arrived, the flames from the fire were already being doused down.

He said there was a large plume of smoke hanging over the building.

"It was pitch black, all the electricity was out except for the arc lights of the fire brigade that were there lighting up the scene for their men to work."

He was able to walk into the scene and explained that the victims had been taken to hospital at this stage.

Mr Jess said there was "no panic, no shouting or screaming" at this point.

"It was a little bit surreal in that respect, considering the magnitude of what had happened, that the whole place was eerily quiet."

He added: "All I saw in front of me were the blackened brick walls that were still standing of the complex because the entire roof, which was a flat roof, and all the wooden structures around had collapsed on the ground level."

Mr Jess said that a fire officer who was at the scene shouted at him to stop walking forward.

"He walked over to me and said: 'Don't take another step forward.' He said if you do you're going to stand on a body.

"All I could see was blackened, charred debris."

Image source, PacemakerImage caption,

In a statement the day after the attack, the IRA admitted its nine-minute warning had been inadequate

West Belfast man Robert Murphy was sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter in 1981 and released in 1995.

But UHRW said others who were involved escaped justice, including those who planned it.

In a statement the day after the attack, the IRA admitted its nine-minute warning had been inadequate.

La Mon bombing report likely to criticise police investigation