Operation Flavius

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Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked with neutralising a Provisional IRA cell. Dan McCann, Seán Savage and Mairéad Farrell intended to detonate a bomb prior to the changing of the guard at the governor’s residence.

Proposed site of bomb

Their plan was to hide the bomb in a car so as to kill the members of the military band assembling for the parade. In order to ensure a parking space in a busy town area, it was necessary to reserve it on the preceding Sunday.

The SAS team was told (incorrectly as it transpired) that the IRA had already placed their bomb and were ready to detonate it. The three were stopped as they walked along the busy main road leading to the Airport and the Spanish frontier. McCann was then shot as the SAS deemed he made an 'aggressive move' towards a bag he was carrying. They had presumed he was intending to trigger a car bomb using a remote control device. After McCann was killed, Farrell made a move towards her handbag and was therefore killed on similar grounds. Faced with arrest, Savage moved his hand to his pocket. The SAS therefore killed him also. In all, McCann was shot five times, Farrell eight times, and Savage between 16 and 18 times. All three were subsequently found to be unarmed, and without any kind of remote trigger. However ingredients for a bomb, including 64 Kilos of Semtex, were later found in a car in Spain, identified by keys found in Farrell's handbag.^[1]

An inquest was held, in which an Irish radio expert disputed whether a remote controlled explosive device was technologically feasible, casting doubt on the justification given. The car bomb found in Marbella was a conventional timer controlled device. An article after the inquest in the respected publication 'Wireless World' proved mathematically that it was possible. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict of lawful killing by a 9-2 majority.

The following year ITV broadcast a Thames Television documentary "Death on the Rock", reflecting concerns about the shootings, which led to criticism of the British government. However, British tabloids attacked the character and credibility of the witnesses, such that their statements in the documentary became discredited. Prime minister Margaret Thatcher denounced the documentary as "trial by television". In 1992, Thames was one of several TV companies which lost their ITV franchises, a move which some claimed was politically motivated, however critics of this idea would point out that they lost it in a fair auction.

In 1995 the European Court of Justice ruled that the killing of the three did not constitute a use of force which was "absolutely necessary" as proscribed by Article 2-2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However, it also ruled that the three had been engaged in an act of terrorism, and consequently dismissed unanimously the applicants’ claims for damages, for costs and expenses incurred in the Gibraltar Inquest and the remainder of the claims for just satisfaction.