Officer who dodged pipe bomb ‘more determined to do job’

A policeman who narrowly avoided being hit by a pipe bomb thrown by Christine Connor has said he will never forget the night of the attack, but is more determined than ever to do his job.

The officer had been sent to what he thought was a domestic incident in May 2013 after Connor made the 999 call pretending to be a woman who had been attacked by her boyfriend.

The devices thrown at the constable on the Upper Crumlin Road were the second attempt on officers by Connor that month. She made a 'trial run' with an improvised explosive device on the Ligoniel Road in similar circumstances.

The constable, who is a father to two young children, the youngest who was three months at the time, was sent to respond to the call with a colleague.

“When I got to the door there were no lights on in the property and I became concerned just because I couldn’t locate the female,” the policeman told UTV.

“I moved away from the house and into the middle of the Crumlin Road, just to try and look around the area and at that point, I heard a noise behind me and I actually thought someone had thrown a bottle."

The officer said: “I quickly ran from the pipe bomb towards the pavement and actually tripped.

“I hit the ground quite hard just as the explosion went off - while I was lying on the ground, I turned back to face the direction I just came and I saw a second device being thrown.”

He continued: “It bounced across the road towards where I was lying, I turned and ran into an alleyway close by just as the second device detonated, there was a lot of smoke in the air. I turned round and pointed my gun in the direction of where the devices had came from but there was nobody there.”

He said that he and his colleague then made residents go back to the safety of their homes as they had started to come out to see what the commotion was.

The officers said he realises how lucky he and his colleague and were to escape without serious injury.

He added: “There was a lot of adrenaline involved, which is probably what got me able to run. I’ve absolutely no doubt that if I had have stood still, if I hadn’t been able to run the second time that I wouldn’t be sitting here today.

“When I got home in the early hours, I was actually with my three-month old child, and I had to sit and appreciate how lucky I was to do that. I’ll never forget it but it’s made me more determined to do my job and to serve everybody and continue doing that.”

Connor, 31 and from Belfast was jailed for 16 years and four months on Tuesday for a number of terrorist offences including the attempted murder of the constable on 28 May 2013.

PSNI’s Detective Superintendent Richard Campbell commented: “Christine Connor meticulously planned the attack on police officers who were attending what they thought was a genuine emergency call for help from a woman purporting to be in danger in her Crumlin Road home in the early hours of the morning on May 28.

“Instead they were lured to a hoax call which ended in an attempt to murder them.

“She planned this attack over quite a period of time and used a web of deceit and lies to enlist the help of Stuart Downes.

“Her deceitfulness knew no bounds and involved using a fictitious name and a profile picture that bore no resemblance to her when communicating online with Stuart Downes to plan this sickening attack on officers who were simply carrying out their core job of protecting their community.”