Ombudsman report describes death as "tragic"

A police Land Rover’s sirens were switched on when it knocked down and killed a man in west Belfast, according to a Police Ombudsman report.

Jim McMenamin, 29, from west Belfast was killed after being knocked down on the Springfield Road on 4 June 2005.

Witnesses had claimed the vehicle had not sounded its sirens when it collided with the victim, as officers responded to an emergency call.

Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan’s investigators discarded these statements, after listening to radio transmissions seized after the incident.

“The sirens can be clearly heard when an officer in the Land Rover responded to the call on his radio and almost one minute later, after the collision, when he requested for an ambulance,” she said.

“We have checked and established that there was no other emergency vehicle in the area at the time.

“From that fact, and the volume of the noise of the siren, we have concluded that the vehicle did in fact have its siren on.”

Mr McMenamin, from Glenalina Road, was knocked down by the vehicle as he made his way home from a night out at a local Gaelic football club. He died at the scene at around 1:00am as the police responded to the emergency call.

A full investigation was carried out, including house-to-house inquiries, media appeals and meetings within the area. Police documentation was also seized, including copies of the radio transmissions.

Only one person saw the collision according to Mrs O’Loan. The witness had been driving along the Springfield Road when he saw the police “jeep” with blue lights pass him on the other side of the road.

When he looked in his rear view mirror he saw a young man standing at the junction, then saw him run across the road before being hit.

Mrs O’Loan described the death was a tragedy.

Referring to the driver of the vehicle, she said: "He was clearly affected by what happened and visibly upset when we talked to him. Despite this, he co-operated fully with my investigators and spoke freely and openly about what happened."

(JM/KMcA)