Omagh couldn't be prevented: Orde

Sir Hugh Orde was giving evidence at Westmister

Sir Hugh Orde has told MPs he has seen nothing to make him believe the 1998 Omagh bombing could have been prevented.

The chief constable was giving evidence to a Commons committee investigating the intelligence surrounding the atrocity which killed 29 people.

Sir Hugh told MPs the blame for the attack lay with the Real IRA.

He said was absolutely clear that there was no intelligence that could have prevented the attack from taking place.

On Tuesday, the chairman of the committee, Sir Patrick Cormack, was critical of the government for not releasing the full version of a report into intelligence intercepted around the time of the Omagh bombing.

Sir Hugh, in his last appearance in Westminster as chief constable, was also questioned about the devolution of policing and justice and the retention of the PSNI full time reserve.

He said it would have been wrong to have left the final decision on the reserve's future to his successor.

That would have been "the coward's way out", he said.