Two men have been charged with three counts of gross negligence manslaughter over a fatal crush outside the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown on St Patrick’s Night three years ago.
Lauren Bullock, 17, Morgan Barnard, 17, and Connor Currie, 16, died as a result of a crush involving hundreds of people queued at the doors of the Greenvale Hotel on March 17, 2019.
It has been reported that one of the men is the hotel owner Michael McElhatton.
The company which runs the Greenvale Hotel, known as Tobin Limited, will also face a charge of contravening health and safety legislation.
The BBC reports that in the files submitted to the PPS, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reported 11 people for consideration, while the Police Ombudsman reported five police officers.
The PPS has decided not to prosecute the remaining nine individuals and the five police officers.
The parents of the three teenagers were told about the decisions to prosecute on Thursday morning.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland acknowledges the decision taken today, Thursday, September 1 by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in respect of the deaths of Connor Currie, Lauren Bullock and Morgan Barnard following an incident at the Greenvale Hotel, Cookstown in March 2019.
“We again extend our deepest sympathies to their families on what is understandably a difficult day for them. Given the decision to commence proceedings against two individuals and a limited company, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further whilst we continue to work with the PPS to present these matters to the court.
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland referred itself to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in the aftermath of the incident. Following the direction not to prosecute any police officers, the misconduct investigation undertaken by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is still live and we will await receipt of their report and any recommendations in due course.”
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