Cookstown crush tragedy: Two men to be charged
Three teenagers died after the tragedy at a 2019 St Patrick’s Day disco at the Greenvale Hotel.
Last updated 1st Sep 2022
Two men are being charged with gross negligence manslaughter after three teenagers died in a crush outside a County Tyrone disco in 2019.
Chaotic scenes unfolded outside the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown as youngsters queued outside a St Patrick’s Day disco, and deaths of Morgan Barnard, 17, Lauren Bullock, 17, and Connor Currie, 16, ensued.
The decisions were announced today (Thursday) after prosecutors took two years to consider "complex" files compiled by both the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
"Mixed emotions"
Senior Public Prosecutor Graham Cardwell said he acknowledges the day will be one of mixed emotions for the families of the three young people who died.
He also thanked them for their patience.
The PSNI submitted a file pertaining to 11 suspects to the Public Prosecution Service.
Two men, aged 55 and 34, are each to be charged with three counts of gross negligence manslaughter – one charge for each of the deaths.
They will also be charged with breaching health and safety at work laws.
Meanwhile the company which ran the hotel, Tobin Limited, will also be charged with breaching the same workplace health and safety legislation.
Nine other staff, seven of whom were bouncers, will not face charges. Prosecutors said the people in question “exercised very little control over the planning for and management of the events which unfolded”.
Five police officers named in a file put forward by the Ombudsman will not be prosecuted in relation to the events either.
They had been suspected of misconduct in a public office.
A call dispatcher was concluded to have communicated, in good faith and without delay, the key information that he received directly as a result of the 999 call.
The PPS concluded it could not be established that he had misconducted himself.
The remaining four officers considered were three constables and one temporary sergeant who were travelling in pairs in separate cars at the time.
It was concluded by the PPS that the available evidence was insufficient to establish that the reported officers recognised the seriousness or exact nature of the situation that was unfolding.
There was difficulty in establishing exactly what they heard over the police communications and there was some initial confusion as to whether the incident was a public order situation, either inside or outside the hotel.
The approach taken by the sergeant was to immediately seek additional police resources so that his officers could safely take any necessary action.
Police observations of the queue at the front of the hotel failed to identify any emergency and police also received assurances from inside the hotel that the situation was under control.
Mr Cardwell said the offence of misconduct in a public office is committed where a public officer, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully neglects to perform his duty to such a degree as to amount to an abuse of the public's trust in the office holder.
“The threshold for this offence is high,” he continued.
“I have concluded that the Test for Prosecution is not met against any of the five officers.
“The evidence was not capable of establishing any bad faith or improper motive in the actions of police at the scene or that they wilfully ignored a high-risk situation of which they were aware.”
Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson said she will now consider whether there is evidence of misconduct by any officer.
"My role as an investigator is to assess the evidence and submit files to the PPS to make a decision as to whether an officer should be prosecuted for the potential offence of Misconduct in Public Office," she said.
"Now that the PPS has directed that no officer should be prosecuted, I will consider whether there is evidence of misconduct by any officer.
"Where there are grounds to do so, I will make appropriate recommendations to the Chief Constable.
"I thank the families for their ongoing patience during this process."
James Bradley, the father of Morgan Barnard, welcomed the decision to pursue prosecutions but expressed his disappointment that no police officers will be prosecuted.
"We now look forward to engaging in the trial process in the months ahead," he said.
"It is, however, deeply disappointing that the PPS have taken a decision to keep those police officers involved out of the dock.
"This is a decision we do not intend on accepting. We have instructed our lawyers to immediately engage with the PPS in seeking a review into this decision not to prosecute."
A PSNI spokesperson extended sympathy to the bereaved families.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland acknowledges the decision taken today, Thursday 1 September by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in respect of the deaths of Connor Currie, Lauren Bullock and Morgan Barnard following an incident at the Greenvale Hotel, Cookstown in March 2019.
“We again extend our deepest sympathies to their families on what is understandably a difficult day for them. Given the decision to commence proceedings against two individuals and a limited company, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further whilst we continue to work with the PPS to present these matters to the court.
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland referred itself to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the incident.
"Following the direction not to prosecute any police officers, the misconduct investigation undertaken by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is still live and we will await receipt of their report and any recommendations in due course.”
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