Three officers injured as police car rammed by lorry

Q Radio News//PA

Three police officers have been injured as their car was rammed by a lorry in south Armagh.

It happened during a joint enforcement operation with HMRC at a commercial site on Edenappa Road, close to Jonesborough, just after midday on Friday.

Superintendent Norman Haslett condemned the “appalling, reckless, dangerous and completely cowardly act”.

In a statement the PSNI said a Scania HGV tipper lorry “deliberately and repeatedly rammed a police vehicle as those in the lorry attempted to flee the area”.

Two officers received medical treatment at the scene and a third was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The police car was “significantly damaged”.

A 57-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including obstruction and fraudulent evasion of duty on fuel.

Mr Haslett said using a heavy goods vehicle as a weapon could “easily have caused catastrophic injury or worse”.

“These were local officers from a neighbourhood policing team carrying out their duty to keep communities safe from organised criminality,” he said.

“An investigation into this incident is now under way and we are liaising with our An Garda Siochana colleagues.

“We are particularly interested in locating the vehicle and the driver which rammed the police car. It was displaying the number plate LD08POP and crossed into the Republic of Ireland and will be bearing damage to the front driver’s side.

“We are appealing to anyone with information about this incident to contact us on 101 quoting reference number 754 of 5/03/21.”