11
McCANN AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
2. if a car was driven into the assembly area by an ASU member without prior
warning;
3. the presence in Gibraltar of the other members of the ASU;
4. if there was clear indication that terrorists having parked their car bomb intended
to leave Gibraltar, that is to say, they were heading for the border.
The plan was for an arrest to be carried out once all the members of the
ASU were present and identified and they had parked a car which they
intended to leave. Any earlier action was considered premature as likely to
raise suspicion in any unapprehended members of the ASU with possible
risk resulting and as leaving no evidence for the police to use in court.
4. Sighting of Mr Savage
38. Detective Constable Viagas was on surveillance duty in a bank which
had a view over the area in which the car driven in by the terrorists was
expected to be parked. At about 12.30 hours, he heard a report over the
surveillance net that a car had parked in a parking space in the assembly
area under observation. A member of the Security Service commented that
the driver had taken time to get out and fiddled with something between the
seats. DC Viagas saw the man lock the car door and walk away towards the
Southport Gate. One of the Security Service officers present consulted a
colleague as to possible identification but neither was sure. A field officer
was requested to confirm the identity. DC Viagas could not himself identify
the man from his position.
39. Witness N of the Security Service team on surveillance in the carpark in the assembly area recalled that at 12.45 hours a white Renault car
drove up and parked, the driver getting out after two to three minutes and
walking away. A young man resembling the suspect was spotted next at
about 14.00 hours in the area. Witness H, who was sent to verify his
identification, saw the suspect at about that time and recognised him as
Savage without difficulty. Witness N also saw the suspect at the rear of
John Mackintosh Hall and at 14.10 hours reported over the radio to the
operations room that he identified him as Savage and also as the man who
had earlier parked the car in the assembly area.
Officer Q who was on duty on the street recalled hearing over the
surveillance net at about 14.30 hours that Savage had been identified.
40. The Commissioner however did not recollect being notified about the
identification of Savage until he arrived in the operations room at 15.00
hours. Colombo did not recall hearing anything about Savage either until it
was reported that he had met up with two other suspects at about
14.50 hours. Soldiers E and F recalled however that a possible sighting of
Savage was reported at about 14.30 hours. Soldier G also refers to the later
sighting at 14.50 hours as the first identification of Savage.