McCANN AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
14
something in the car earlier. He had also been told of the indication of an
old aerial on a new car.
Soldier D said that it had been confirmed to him by Soldier E that there
was a bomb there. To his recollection, no one told them that there was a
possibility that the three suspects might not be carrying the remote-control
devices with them on the Sunday or that possibly they had not brought a
bomb in. He had been told by Soldier E - whom he fully trusted - that there
was a bomb in the car.
53. At the inquest Soldier G was described as being the bomb-disposal
adviser. He had experience of dealing with car bombs in Northern Ireland
but at the inquest he stated in reply to various questions that he was neither
a radio-communications expert nor an explosives expert. He had not thought
of de-activating the suspect bomb by unscrewing the aerial from the car.
When it was put to him in cross-examination, he agreed that to have
attempted to unscrew the aerial would have been potentially dangerous.
8. Passing of control to the military for arrest
54. After receiving the report from Soldier G and in view of the fact that
the three suspects were continuing northwards leaving the car behind, the
Commissioner decided that the three suspects should be arrested on
suspicion of conspiracy to murder. At 15.40 hours, he signed a form
requesting the military to intercept and apprehend the suspects. The form,
which had been provided in advance by the military, stated:
"I, Joseph Luis Canepa, Commissioner of Police, having considered the terrorist
situation in Gibraltar and having been fully briefed on the military plan with firearms,
request that you proceed with the military option which may include the use of lethal
force for the preservation of life."
After the form was signed, Soldier F walked across to the tactical net and
issued instructions that the military should intervene.
Soldier E ascertained the positions of the soldiers by radio. Soldiers C
and D had been visually monitoring the movement of the three suspects in
Line Wall Road and Smith Dorrien Avenue. Soldiers A and B were making
their way north through Casemates Square and into the Landport tunnel.
The soldiers were informed that control had passed to them to make an
arrest.
55. The evidence at the inquest given by the soldiers and Police Officer
R and DC Ullger was that the soldiers had practised arrest procedures on
several occasions with the police before 6 March 1988. According to these
rehearsals, the soldiers were to approach the suspects to within a close
distance, cover the suspects with their pistols and shout "Stop. Police.
Hands up." or words to that effect. They would then make the suspects lie
on the ground with their arms away from their bodies until the police moved
in to carry out a formal arrest. Further, DC Ullger stated that special efforts