Residents escape as Brit chopper crashes in Crossmaglen

Sinn Féin Assembly member for Newry & Armagh, Conor Murphy, has expressed "anger and outrage" after a British Army helicopter hit a tree in the garden of a family home in Crossmaglen on Wednesday morning.

At around 11.30am, the helicopter, arriving at the military base in Crossmaglen, struck a large tree in the garden of a family home adjacent to the barracks. The tree fell into the garden.

"Thankfully, nobody was in the garden at the time, otherwise this incident would have resulted in serious injuries," said Murphy.

The woman who lives in the house then rang the PSNI barracks to make an official complaint. The PSNI member hung up and refused to talk to her. Later, a PSNI/British Army patrol in the area abused the woman when she asked to make a complaint about the earlier incident.

"I will be raising this matter with the British Government today and I am demanding that these dangerous and unnecessary flights are stopped once and for all," said Murphy. "It was only through good fortune that local people were not killed or seriously injured in this morning's incident, which is just the latest in a long line of such incidents involving British Army helicopters in this area.

"The attitude of the PSNI to this morning's event, while not surprising, is another illustration of just how far we have to travel before we reach the Good Friday Agreement goal of an accountable and acceptable policing service."