Police were right to fire nearly 30 baton rounds at rioters during fierce street fighting in Belfast, the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman said today.
Mrs Nuala O'Loan claimed officers who came under siege during clashes between loyalist and republican in the Short Strand area in August 2002, helped restore order by hitting back.
Even though political representatives were outraged by her findings, Mrs O'Loan insisted police had shown restraint and been justified in opening fire. She said: "There is overwhelming evidence to support the police use of baton rounds at this point.
"All evidence suggests that the baton gunners acted entirely within the relevant guidelines."
The Ombudsman was called in by the chief constable to investigate one of the worst riots in years at the peaceline dividing the Catholic Short Strand from the rest of Protestant east Belfast.
Mrs O'Loan's Regulation 20 report, which has been sent to chief constable Hugh Orde, Secretary of State Paul Murphy and the Northern Ireland Policing Board, detailed how at one stage a crowd of about 50 people attacked a Land Rover.
Some officers were hit by bottles containing liquid that melted their uniforms and boots, she reported. Fire crews were also targeted as they fought a blaze at a house in the area.
In total two baton rounds were fired on August 20th before riot squad units discharged another 27 when trouble heightened the next night.
Under the circumstances, the Ombudsman praised the police response. "The use of baton rounds during the riots was lawful, justified and proportionate," she insisted.
The report incensed Mr Joe O'Donnell, a Sinn Féin councillor in the Short Strand. "If the police had acted to help the residents of the Short Strand then there would not be so many of them injured and still requiring treatment," he said.
"Mrs O'Loan's report is open to serious question to say the least," he added.
PA