46
39 Exeter road
Kilburn
London NW2
Lat = 51 degrees, 32.9 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 12.5 minutes West
Tuesday 19th September 1989 (same day)
Fifteen twenty-one hours BST
O’Rourke was in the garden shed putting the final touches to the two devices when Shamus came in.
“Patrick; they have your mug shot all over the news come and see!”
He put down his tools and followed Shamus back to the house, where the television was showing his picture with a newscaster talking.
...”Once again the Police are looking for this man, Patrick O’Rourke a convicted IRA bomber believed responsible for the bombings in Oxford Street this morning. He escaped from custody yesterday whilst under escort by a US Marshall following his extradition from America. Please report any sightings to the Police, this man is extremely dangerous so do not approach him.”
O’Rourke went over to the TV and switched it off, Shamus said, “what you going to do now Patrick?”
“Get in touch with Jamie and have him arrange my transport out of the country to Belfast for ten o’clock this evening, I will meet him at the usual place. I still have time to leave the Brits two more packages.”
“I’ll get in touch with him now Patrick,” replied Shamus.
O’Rourke went back to the shed and resumed work on the two bombs.
Twenty minutes later Shamus was walking out the front door, down the pathway just as a Police vehicle was drawing up.
He immediately panicked and ran back down the pathway to the front door and he began fumbling with the keys trying to open the door.
The Police vehicle pulling up was a Rover 800 ARV (armed response vehicle) call sign Alpha-1 and had a three-man crew.
The Officers had quickly noticed the man initially walking up the footpath from number 39 the house they were calling at and then doing a rapid about turn running back to the front door.
Two of the officers were immediately out of the car as the remaining one called it in, “Alpha-1 to MP, we have a possible sighting on the suspect, he is doing a runner back into the house over.”
“MP to Alpha-1 understood, contain the area and do not go into the house over.”
Shamus had managed to open the front door and he was now in the front room peering through the downstairs window curtain at two Police officers coming down the footpath.
The two officers had heard the Comms chatter between their colleague and MP on their personal radios.
There colleague had quickly joined them and they swiftly made a plan, one at the front door, and the other two to go around the back.
Shamus had now run out the back door and down to the shed, startling O’Rourke as he opened the door and was looking down the barrel of the Browning handgun.
“You bloody fool Shamus I could have shot you!”
“The coppers are here Patrick!”
O’Rourke reacted quickly, placing the two devices in a holdall bag that also contained the hand grenades and said, “Go and stall them Shamus; they obviously are just checking everyone with an IRA connection, I am out of here.”
“Use the gate behind the shed Patrick, it takes you out into an alley, turn left and straight to the bottom and then right. You can make your way around to the underground, good luck my friend.”
O’Rourke was through the gate within seconds and legging it down alleyway.
One of the officers came around the corner at the opposite end too O’Rourke and observed him legging it down the alley he withdrew his handgun and shouted, “Stop armed Police!”
O’Rourke had heard the order but he ignored it, they would not shoot on an unarmed man, he turned right and disappeared out of the officer’s view.
The Police officer gave chase with his colleague close behind him, they turned right at the end of the alley but there was no sight of their man.
The one officer spoke into his PR, “Alpha-1 to MP over.”
“Go ahead Alpha-1.”
“It looks like two suspects at this location; we have lost one through the backstreets at the rear of the house. We believe the one we first clocked at the front is still inside the house, over.”
“Received Alpha-1, secure the perimeter additional units are on route, MP out.”
Fifteen minutes later the house was completely cordoned off and a team from PT-17 the forces firearms unit were just arriving on site.
PT-17 came about in 1987 from the formally known D11 unit.
The Officers were issued with Browning self-loading pistols, and Smith & Wesson Model 28 revolvers, along with training on the Heckler & Koch 93.
Within a couple of minutes, Chief Superintendent Attlee arrived on site, being driven by his driver Pc Paul Mason in the Jaguar motor car.
PC Mason spoke into the radio and said, “MP, show Alpha Papa 5 on scene over?”
Five minutes later, Chief Superintendent Attlee was talking with two of the officers working out an operational plan with the sergeant from PT-17 and one of the constables from the ARV.
“Have we got the details of the house occupants?”
The Police constable present replied, “Should have them in the next five minutes sir from the electoral role.”
“Sergeant where have you positioned your men?”
“Sir, two are around the back in the alleyway with the two ARV officers. I have two that have just gone through the neighbour’s house to their rear garden, one on the right side in that alley and three here at the front.”
Just at that moment, the ARV officers PR came to life, “MP to Alpha-1 receiving over?”
“Go ahead MP.”
“Records show a single occupant named at that address, Shamus O’Malley, we have cross referenced him on our system and he has a CRO.”
Chief Superintendent Attlee beckoned to the officer to use his PR and spoke into it, “MP this is Chief Superintendent Attlee, what have you got on him over?”
“Sir, he has convictions for theft, burglary, possession of a firearm. He has been in the past subject to surveillance by SO-13, his known associates include suspected members of the IRA. The file shows nothing for the past eighteen months, MP over.”
Chief Superintendent Attlee replied, “Roger that MP, out.”
He turned to the sergeant and said, “Have you a loudhailer in the van?”
“Yes sir,” replied the sergeant.
Inside the house, Shamus was upstairs peering through the front bedroom window at all the activity below in the street.
He was pretty sure Patrick had made good his escape, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice, “Shamus O’Malley this is Chief Superintendent Attlee, if you are in the house come out the front door in the next sixty seconds, do not force us to come in for you!”
Shamus thought for a few moments, they really had nothing on him; there were no munitions left in the shed and they had probably not had a good look to identify Patrick leaving out the back.
He walked down the stairs, opened the front door and stepped outside.
A different voice greeted him from the loudhailer, “down on your knees and both hands clasped behind your head.”
Shamus complied and the voice then said, “okay lay down in the prone position and spread eagle your arms and legs, do not try anything you have weapons trained on you.”
Again, he complied and as he lay face down, he heard a sound from his left and felt pressure in the middle of his back.
He felt a hand frisking his body and then his left arm being pulled behind him and he felt the familiar feel of the steel of a handcuff followed by the sound of the ratchet and the biting sting as it bit into his wrist, this was repeated with his other arm.
He was roughly pulled up onto his feet and walked to the footpath by the road; a man came over and said, “You Shamus O’Malley?”
“That I am sir and who might you be?”
“My name is Chief Superintendent Attlee; you are under arrest on suspicion of harbouring a terrorist,” he turned to the sergeant and said, “caution him and have him taken to Paddington green.”
The sergeant said to O’Malley, “you do not have say anything unless you wish to do so, anything you do say will be taken down in writing and may be used in evidence, do you understand?”
Shamus had heard this many times before and just nodded.
Thirty minutes later, he was at Paddington Green police station, back at his house SOCO were searching for evidence and lifting fingerprint from various areas.
O’Rourke had made it back to the tube station and he was now heading south along the Bakerloo line. As he sat there he realised that it would be fruitless to go to any of his other associates, the Police were obviously trawling every known address of known IRA sympathisers
No! He had nowhere to go except the rendezvous with Jamie at ten tonight, so what would his target be?