SENIOR PSNI officers failed to adequately warn two junior officers about the potential for trouble in Kilrea in the early hours of the 12th of July 2004, according to a report by the Police Ombudsman.
But she has also found that one of the officers, who discharged seven shots into the air in a bid to prevent fighting between rival groups, should have given audible warnings before firing the shots.
The two officers were the only police posted to the town on a night when senior officers believed there may be trouble between rival factions following the removal of Union Flags in the town centre the previous evening.
On the night in question, other police resources in the district had been deployed in Coleraine and Garvagh, where trouble was also anticipated.
Fight involved up to 30 people. Some fell to ground and were kicked, stamped upon and hit with sticks.
Intense fighting, involving up to 30 people, flared in Kilrea after 2am. Several people were seen falling to the ground and being kicked, stamped upon and hit with sticks. Some had head wounds and blood on their hands and faces.
The two officers used their handheld batons in a bid to try to control the situation, but when this failed one of the officers produced his personal protection weapon and fired a number of shots into the air. He said the fighting temporarily ceased, but started again a short time later.
When he saw another man being severely beaten behind a car, the same officer again urged the crowd to back off before discharging more shots.
Additional officers, who arrived at the scene in response to calls for assistance, used batons as they dealt with the situation and arrested a number of people.
The Police Ombudsman later received five public complaints about the conduct of police officers during the incident, four of which alleged assault. These complaints have been investigated and have not been substantiated.
Three people received emergency medical treatment for head injuries following the disturbances. One civilian said that if the warning shots had not been fired he believed he would have been killed. The officer who discharged the shots was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
During their investigation of the firearms discharge, Police Ombudsman investigators interviewed police and civilian witnesses, and secured police video and audio recordings and other documentation.
The officer's gun was also submitted for forensic analysis and was found to be in good working order and to have fired seven shots. His training records were examined and showed that he was properly authorised to use the firearm at the time of the incident.
Officers were not briefed about "a reasonable expectation of trouble"
After reviewing the evidence, Mrs O'Loan expressed concern that the two officers deployed to Kilrea had not been briefed that there was "a reasonable expectation of trouble" in the village following the removal of Union Flags from the area around the local War Memorial the previous evening.
"They had been told that there may be trouble involving youths returning from a local disco, but they were not alerted to the fact that tensions in the village had been heightened by the removal of the flags."
While acknowledging the "difficult and dangerous" situation in which the officers found themselves, Mrs O'Loan nevertheless stressed the importance of giving audible warnings before live fire.
"It is an important safety issue," she said. "When police officers fire shots without warning, there is the potential for their colleagues, in the heat of the moment, to believe they are under fire from someone else. If as a consequence they then discharge their firearms, the results could be fatal.
"In this case no warnings were given before any of the seven rounds discharged by the officer."
The officer has since been reminded of the need to issue audible warnings before discharging his firearm.