McCANN AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT 44 the soldiers were there only for the purpose of handing in their weapons. In addition, the soldiers were immediately flown out of Gibraltar without ever having been interviewed by the police. 176. The applicants referred to the following factors, amongst others, in support of their contention: - The best and safest method of preventing an explosion and capturing the suspects would have been to stop them and their bomb from entering Gibraltar. The authorities had their photographs and knew their names and aliases as well as the passports they were carrying; - If the suspects had been under close observation by the Spanish authorities from Malaga to Gibraltar, as claimed by the journalist, Mr Debelius, the hiring of the white Renault car would have been seen and it would have been known that it did not contain a bomb (see paragraph 128 above); - The above claim is supported by the failure of the authorities to isolate the bomb and clear the area around it in order to protect the public. In Gibraltar there were a large number of soldiers present with experience in the speedy clearance of suspect bomb sites. The only explanation for this lapse in security procedures was that the security services knew that there was no bomb in the car; - Soldier G, who was sent to inspect the car and who reported that there was a suspect car bomb, admitted during the inquest that he was not an expert in radio signal transmission (see paragraph 53 above). This was significant since the sole basis for his assessment was that the radio aerial looked older than the car. A real expert would have thought of removing the aerial to nullify the radio detonator, which could have been done without destabilising the explosive, as testified by Dr Scott. He would have also known that if the suspects had intended to explode a bomb by means of a radio signal they would not have used a rusty aerial - which would reduce the capacity to receive a clear signal - but a clean one (see paragraph 114 above). It also emerged from his evidence that he was not an explosives expert either. There was thus the possibility that the true role of Soldier G was to report that he suspected a car bomb in order to induce the Gibraltar police to sign the document authorising the SAS to employ lethal force. 177. In the Government’s submission it was implicit in the jury’s verdicts of lawful killing that they found as facts that there was no plot to kill the three terrorists and that the operation in Gibraltar had not been conceived or mounted with this aim in view. The aim of the operation was to effect the lawful arrest of the three terrorists and it was for this purpose that the assistance of the military was sought and given. Furthermore, the jury must have also rejected the applicants’ contention that Soldiers A, B, C and D had deliberately set out to kill the terrorists, whether acting on express orders or as a result of being given "a nod and a wink".