Two men to face charges over deaths at St Patrick's Day hotel disco
Two men are to be charged in connection with the deaths of three teenagers outside a St Patrick's Day disco held at the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown, Northern Ireland in 2019.
Morgan Barnard, 17, Lauren Bullock, 17, and Connor Currie, 16, had joined hundreds of others in a queue to enter the event on 17 March 2019. Police and paramedics were called at about 9:30pm following reports of a crush leaving attendees with injuries.
The men, aged 55 and 43, will be charged with three counts of gross negligence manslaughter and one offence of contravening the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978.
In addition to these prosecutions, the company which runs the Greenvale Hotel, known as Tobin Limited, will face one charge of contravening the same Health and Safety legislation.
Prosecutors had spent two years considering files of information submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Police Ombudsman, which investigated the conduct of officers involved in the initial response, following reports they had initially withdrawn from the scene to await backup.
The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) took the decision not to prosecute nine individuals reported by police and the five officers investigated by the ombudsman.
Senior Public Prosecutor, Graham Cardwell, said: "The loved ones of Morgan Barnard, Lauren Bullock and Connor Currie have suffered a painful loss. I acknowledge that today may be one of mixed emotions for these families as they continue to live with the aftermath of such deeply distressing events.
"The files received from the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman were voluminous and detailed and there were a considerable number of complex issues that required careful consideration.
"I am grateful to the families for their patience as the PPS took the time needed to complete the significant task of examining all available evidence before reaching decisions on whether there was a reasonable prospect of conviction in relation to each suspect."
He added: "Criminal proceedings will commence in due course and we will continue to engage directly with the families involved as the prosecution progresses."
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: "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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