RUC erred at Troubles’ dawn by firing on flats from armoured cars

Ombudsman says police were at fault when four people were killed in Divis and Ardoyne areas in 1969

Police blundered at the dawn of Northern Ireland's Troubles by using vehicle-mounted machine guns in residential areas and not effectively investigating the ensuing deaths, including that of the first child killed in the conflict, according to a new report.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) committed significant operational and investigative failures" during the killing of four people in Belfast on 14 and 15 August 1969, the police ombudsman said in a report published on Thursday.