Statement by TUV Foyle representative Elizabeth Neely:
“The PSNI excuses about their facilitation of the terrorist show of strength in Londonderry and particularly their failure to deploy a helicopter have this morning disappeared into thin air when challenged by a lady who had experience in the RAF. Now, having been caught out, the police appear to be desperately trying to find another excuse – even suggesting that the problem may have been fuel!
“This fiasco is doing nothing to increase public confidence in the PSNI, a police service which took a hands off approach to policing the Bobby Storey funeral but can arrest street preachers and threaten loyalists with prosecution for protesting against the Protocol.
“There is an urgent need for the PSNI to explain exactly why the helicopter was not deployed. Was it because of fuel? If so that raises serious questions about why it isn’t kept in a constant state of readiness and about why it wasn’t able to be deployed when, by their own admission, the PSNI knew that a republican show of strength was likely. It also obviously raises the question of why a senior officer initially blamed the weather!
“The stark truth is that the PSNI surrendered the streets to gunmen. That was bad enough but now they are compounding the issue by treating the public like fools with these conflicting reasons as to why that happened and why the evidence gathering operation was hampered by the lack of a helicopter.”