Feb 09 - Runway Incident – Summary
Yesterday’s incident on the runway was unprecedented. The stand-off between the RGP and the Ministry of Defence over a serving member of the military who is involved in a criminal investigation caused huge tailbacks and a diplomatic headache. What do we know so far?
What happened?
An RGP patrol car blocked an RAF plane from taking off yesterday afternoon. The plane was carrying a member of the British military whom the RGP wanted to question regarding and ongoing criminal investigation.
YGTV understands that the plane, which was headed to the UK, also carried computer equipment (alleged to be hard drives) which are part of the investigation.
According to GBC the investigation reportedly relates to sex offences.
How was it resolved?
The MoD backed down and the man was taken off the plane and is currently in Gibraltar. However, the RGP has said that no arrests took place during yesterday’s incident.
Who has jurisdiction?
At the root of the stand-off is an apparent disagreement over jurisdiction. The MoD’s actions yesterday suggest that they believed that the criminal investigation ought to be conducted in the UK.
However, two points are important:
- The RGP has complete jurisdiction over all of Gibraltar (including all military land/facilities) and over all offences committed in Gibraltar.
- Any open RGP investigation regarding an individual assumes priority over and above any other investigation being conducted by other forces / agencies like, for example, the MoD.
Here, another key question emerges: did the alleged offences take place in Gibraltar?
What have they said?
As expected in a fast-developing, sensitive and potentially embarrassing incident, there has been very little official comment. What we know so far has come from trusted sources.
The first official statement came from Number Six: “A law enforcement operation being carried out by the Royal Gibraltar Police caused an aircraft to be prevented from taking off and subsequently other aircraft to be delayed in their approach to Gibraltar. As a result the runway barrier closed Winston Churchill Avenue for a significant time and resulted in long traffic delays.”
The MoD, in similar fashion, declined any detailed statement on the matter, simply repeating the fact that an operation had caused delays.
What happens now?
It’s difficult to say. Presumably, a full investigation will be conducted into the incident to prevent a repeat. If there has been a misunderstanding or – more controversially – a disagreement over jurisdiction, this will have to be clarified. The incident also raises big questions regarding certain aspects of inter-agency cooperation.
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