Masked men force delivery driver to take bomb to County Armagh police station

Homes evacuated in Lurgan as police carry out controlled explosion on ‘crude but viable’ device

Masked men hijacked a car, placed a “crude but viable” explosive device inside and forced the occupant to drive the vehicle to a police station in Northern Ireland on Monday, prompting a security alert and the evacuation of about 100 homes, police have said.

Some streets in Lurgan, County Armagh, remained shut on Tuesday morning as police investigated the scene.

The hijackers, one armed with a gun, stopped a white Audi in the Kilwilkie estate at about 10.30pm, placed the device in the boot and ordered the occupant, a fast-food delivery driver, to drive to a police station at Church Road, a mile away, where he parked and raised the alarm.

Authorities evacuated dozens of nearby homes and opened Lurgan town hall to accommodate displaced residents. Police carried out a controlled explosion on the suspicious device. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion fell on dissident republicans.

It was an “absolutely terrifying ordeal” for the driver and a “hugely disruptive and a distressing event” for the community, Ryan Henderson, an assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, told BBC Radio Ulster.

Henderson later provided an update about the attack.

He said: “At approximately 10.30pm last night a fast food delivery driver was making a delivery in Deramore Drive in the Kilwilkie area of Lurgan when he was hijacked by two masked men, one of whom was armed with a pistol.

“The man placed an object in the boot of his white Audi A4 car, registration number SB60 LUY, and the driver was ordered to drive it to Lurgan police station or he would be killed. The car was driven to the station, where the driver escaped and bravely ran to security staff telling them that there was a bomb in the car; a horrific and terrible ordeal for him.

“A significant policing operation has been put in place overnight, with around 100 homes in the area being evacuated and residents moved to the local rest centre at Lurgan town hall.”

He added: “Ammunition technical officers carried out a controlled explosion to make the vehicle safe, and we now know that this was a crude but viable improvised explosive device. As unsophisticated as it was, it posed a significant risk to the life of the terrified delivery driver, our security staff and the local community.”

Naomi Long, Northern Ireland’s justice minister, commended the police response and condemned the incident. “This is a shameful and dangerous attack that has put lives at risk and caused disruption and upset to the local community. There is absolutely no place for this utterly reckless and abhorrent behaviour.”

Carla Lockhart, a Democratic Unionist MP who represents the constituency, said those responsible sought to maximise disruption and drag Lurgan back to the Troubles. “Lurgan has moved on and sadly there’s a small nucleus of people who want to agitate and drag it back. It’s not what people are at, it’s not what people want – what people want is to be a society.”

The Provisional IRA pioneered the tactic in 1990 when it strapped Patsy Gillespie, an army canteen worker, into a bomb-laden van and forced him to drive to an army checkpoint, where the explosion killed Gillespie and five soldiers. Dissident republicans have replicated the tactic but often with hoax bombs.

John O’Dowd, a Sinn Féin Stormont assembly member, condemned the Lurgan incident and offered solidarity to the driver. “Those behind this morning’s actions represent no one but themselves, and stand isolated from the community. Progress will not be stymied by these people, Lurgan will continue to move forward.”