Deputy Mayor vows to clear his name
Thursday, 9 October 2008
THE Deputy Mayor of Antrim has challenged the police to either prosecute him or drop all charges relating to a nightmarish incident in his home earlier this year.
Back in January the Antrim Guardian revealed that Councillor Adrian Watson was forced to take the law into his own hands after police failed to rush to the aid of his three children who found themselves home alone with a mysterious man in the family-run B&B.
The UUP man and his wife Heather had left 16-year-old daughter Ashleigh in charge when they set off for the installation of Jennifer Bell as the Borough's newest Minister at a function in Templepatrick. Less than a hour later, though, the usually mundane task of looking after her 11-year-old sister and three-year-old brother became anything but.
The drama unfolded when the younger girl spotted the lumbering shadow of a large man walking around the ground floor of their home on the Belfast Road. Terrified, she ran to her sister who - armed with a hockey stick - bravely went to investigate.
Spying the uninvited guest at the bottom of the stairs, Ashleigh silently crept into the bathroom and made the first of a series of 999 calls before turning her attention to protecting her younger siblings by building a make-shift barricade. Then she called her dad, who raced home oblivious to the falling snow.
Amazingly police operators reported the break-in a full 14 minutes after the first plea for help - and even then they said it was 'low priority'. With local officers on the ground unaware that the children were in a state of terror, they decided not to leave the domestic they were dealing with.
It was over half an hour before they pulled up outside the Bed and Breakfast, and by then the UUP man had arrived home and put the unwelcome guest under First Citizen's arrest.
The officers wrestled the man - a six foot seven Estonian migrant with an address in County Donegal - to their car but a WPC was injured in the process. Rain Tamberk was given a conditional discharge for assaulting the officer and fined £150 for criminal damage at the Watson home. Charges of disorderly behaviour, trespassing and resisting arrest were later withdrawn.
But while the case against Tamberk was swiftly resolved, a glaring legal question mark over disputed claims that he was violently restrained by the then Mayor of Antrim remain.
Mr Tamberk alleged that Councillor Watson attacked him as he lay sleeping, battering him repeatedly with a length of wood.
The Guardian can confirm that the UUP man was indeed quizzed twice by the PSNI in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Two baseball bats - one pink and one blue with Mickey Mouse emblazoned on the shaft - were also taken away for forensic tests. To date they have not been returned.
But while the police deliberated on whether to charge Councillor Watson, a groundswell of public opinion began to grow behind him - with newspaper editorials praising him for putting his children's safety before his own.
Things reached a head when Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland personally apologised to the family for the 'unacceptable delays' in responding to the initial alarm call.
With Tamberk back in the Irish Republic, it appeared as if the case against the UUP man was dead - but it was not.
Nine months on Councillor Watson has confirmed that despite repeated calls to the police and the Public Prosecution Service, no-one has been able to confirm if the 'dark shadow' has been lifted from his family.
“This has been a very traumatic episode for my family and I'm amazed that it hasn't been resolved after all this time," he said last night.
“Until I've been told otherwise, I suppose I have to assume that I'm still under investigation, despite the fact that my only crime was protecting my kids from a skinhead who broke into my home.
“My children are still upset about what happened, and the younger ones still want to know if their daddy has to go to court. It's crazy."
Mr Watson now believes that detectives were determined to 'pin something' on him in the days after the incident 'instead of going after the thug' who assaulted one of their team.
“They took a very specific line of questioning, repeatedly asking me why I felt the need to restrain this man and why I didn't just lock myself in the bathroom with the kids until the police arrived.
“Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know if this man was alone or indeed if he was armed. I did know, however, that my wife was on her way home. I couldn't take that risk.
“I've got no regrets about making a citizen's arrest but I do resent the suggestion that I used excessive force. Remember this came from a man who broke into a house where children were sleeping and then lashed out and struck a police officer - and a woman at that."
Mr Watson, a member of Antrim District Policing Partnership, later asked police if the investigation was over and was 'blown away' when he was told that a file had been prepared.
The Guardian has learned that this file was never forwarded to the PPS but the PSNI has declined to comment on whether the investigation is live, insisting that they could not comment on an individual case.
While he welcomed the news that prosecutors had not received a file, the UUP man added that he was 'bitterly disappointed' that the police had declined to 'put the issue to bed once and for all'.
“If there's no case to answer perhaps they will do the right thing and tell me," he fumed. "All this uncertainty is unfair on me and my family.
“I make no apology for looking out for my children. If the police want to see if a jury agrees with me, then so be it. I've done nothing wrong so I've got nothing to fear."
The incident was not the first time that Adrian Watson felt compelled to apprehend an intruder in his home. In August 2007 he returned home from a family holiday in the United States to discover that intruders had broken into and ransacked his home.
During a hasty search of the property a 17-year-old was apprehended by the local rep and held until police arrived. Once again, Mr Watson emphatically rejected any suggestion that he had used 'excessive force'.
