Car bomb was 'deliberate, reckless, stupid' attack, says police chief

A car bomb which exploded outside a police station was a "deliberate, reckless and stupid attack", Northern Ireland's police chief has said.

Jon Boutcher praised the bravery of police officers who "rushed towards danger" to evacuate family homes close to Dunmurry police station on Saturday night.

The device detonated while police were directing local residents to safety, including families with young babies.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) believes dissident republicans carried out the bombing, which is being treated as attempted murder.

Boutcher was speaking at a press conference at Stormont, during which the first and deputy first ministers and the Policing Board chair also condemned the attack.

"We thought it was really crucially important today that we stood here together with a united voice," First Minister Michelle O'Neill said.

She said it put lives at risk and "showed a blatant disregard for the local community".

O'Neill added that it was an "extremely terrifying ordeal" for the delivery driver who was forced to transport the bomb to its target.

The man's vehicle had been hijacked at gunpoint in Twinbrook, west Belfast, shortly after 22:50 BST on Saturday

The vehicle was then fitted with a gas cylinder device before the driver was ordered to bring the bomb to the station, where it exploded.

Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly said she was "absolutely appalled" by the bombing.

"It is vitally important that we send a very clear message this morning that we stand shoulder to shoulder in clear and unequivocal condemnation of this attack".

Speaking on the BBC's Nolan Show earlier on Monday, Boutcher hailed the deliver driver's reaction as "incredibly brave".

He said the driver "alerted police staff and officers as to what had happened" which enabled the evacuation of local residents.

The attack took place in a built-up area, close to family homes in which many children were already in bed asleep.

"The officers, without any consideration for their own safety, came out the police station to make sure residents nearby the car were evacuated," Boutcher said.

"At that point the device within the car detonated.

"Fortunately, and it's only through good fortune, that nobody was seriously injured or killed."

Boutcher said his officers suspect the bombing was carried out by the dissident republican group known as the New IRA.

He told the programme it was an "absolutely irresponsible, unacceptable act of violence".

"No one has yet claimed responsibility, but we are expecting to hear a claim of responsibility, and from what we know it may will likely be again the New IRA.

"We are just seeing a period of behaviour from these utterly, mindless thugs who nobody supports, nobody is with them, nobody is behind them," Boutcher said.

"We are seeing a period of behaviour that we need to address very quickly, arrest them and put them where they belong, which is in prison."

The attack began when the delivery driver's car was hijacked in Twinbrook, west Belfast, shortly after 22:50 BST on Saturday.

His vehicle was fitted with a gas cylinder device and the man was forced to drive it to Dunmurry police station.

The driver abandoned the vehicle in front of the building and alerted police.

Several residents, including two babies, were being taken to safety by officers when the device exploded.

By Mark Simpson, BBC News NI community correspondent

The reckless nature of the car bomb shows the danger posed by violent dissident republicans.

Groups like the New IRA have only a very small number of activists and minimal support, but they have deadly intent.

A similar attack to Dunmurry took place at Lurgan police station last month but the device did not explode.

Security experts will be looking closely at the two attacks to assess what it means in terms of the level of threat and the current capabilities of violent groups.

The police in Northern Ireland have largely contained violent republicans in recent years, but the two attacks are a reminder that security chiefs cannot be complacent.

One resident forced to leave his home during the evacuation on Saturday said the bomb sounded like a car crashing into a wall.

Father of two Joe Morgan lives about 110 yards from Dunmurry police station.

His children - aged two and four - were asleep and he was getting ready for bed himself when the device detonated.

"I was just flicking off lights and starting the wind down and I heard a loud bang" he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"I grew up at the tail end of the Troubles, so my mind didn't actually immediately go to an explosion.

"I thought it was maybe a vehicle that had crashed into something in the street or my house."

When he looked out the window he saw his neighbours coming out onto the street and they confirmed that a bomb had exploded.

"A neighbour showed me a photo of the car on fire... obviously the focus is on the kids and getting them to safety."

Police officers then began knocking on doors in his street, advising residents to evacuate in case there was a secondary device.

"Your brain starts going 100 miles a minute," Morgan recalled.

He said he tried to stay calm while he packed some belongings, but admitted that the "adrenaline is going quite a bit at this point".

His pregnant wife was staying at her mother's house on Saturday night and he said he was "grateful" she was not at home when the bomb went off.

"I'd phoned my brother-in-law just to see if there was a bit of a space for the evening and I was trying to gather some things together for my wife as well."

He had to wake his children, the elder of whom wanted to know why they were having a "sleepover" at their uncle's house.

"They are not really questions you're expecting to have to answer in 2026," Morgan said.

He also praised other residents, some of whom had shown great concern for their elderly neighbours during the evacuation.

"I was lucky having family that I could immediately jump in a car and get to," Morgan said.

The family returned home on Sunday evening.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank and file PSNI officers, described the bombing as "the definition of madness".

"This doesn't move the needle towards any particular goal," said its chair Liam Kelly.

"All it does is show that there are still people who want to murder my colleagues and deliver pain and suffering in our communities."

Boutcher also told the Nolan Show that the PSNI "haven't been supported" when compared to counterparts across the UK and Ireland.

"There are all sorts of reasons for that, some of which are linked to the fact we are not funded for legacy by the government in Westminster and decisions have been made here to put funding towards other public services rather than policing."

Asked if the PSNI receives enough support from Stormont's two largest parties, Sinn Féin and the DUP, Boucher claimed he doesn't "think any of us are doing enough, and I have spoken to those political leaders about that".

"Everybody linking arm in arm, should be standing together shoulder to shoulder, standing up for policing in Northern Ireland in a way that I am accustomed to elsewhere, and has that happened the way I want it to here? No, it hasn't."

The term "dissident republicans" describes a range of individuals who do not accept the Good Friday Agreement.

The Provisional IRA - the main armed republican paramilitary group for most of the Troubles - declared a ceasefire in the run up to the agreement and officially ended its violent campaign in 2005.

Dissident republicanism is made up of various groups which broke away from the Provisional IRA, including the Continuity IRA and New IRA.

The groups are much smaller than the Provisional IRA, although they have access to high-calibre weapons and explosive devices.