A ROYAL NAVY seaman who is on the run after publishing an 18-page dossier criticising the safety of Trident nuclear submarines plans to hand himself in.
In the document, which was posted online, Able Seaman William McNeilly claimed security surrounding Britain’s nuclear deterrent is so poor that it is “a disaster waiting to happen”.
The 25-year-old from Belfast is now the subject of a cross border police search, including the PSNI and Garda Síochána.
But in a Facebook message posted this week, he indicated his intention to hand himself in - claiming: “I set out to gather as much information as possible, inform you and the government before getting caught and then hand myself into the police.”
Sources at the Royal Navy have said they have “concerns” for the safety and wellbeing of Mr McNeilly, who claims he is a former Engineering Technician Submariner, who was on patrol with HMS Victorious earlier this year.
Referring to the posting in his report, he claims contractors at the naval base on the River Clyde near Glasgow were allowed alongside the submarines without being patted down or their equipment checked.
He went on to claim it was “merely a matter of time” before the workforce at the submarine base are “infiltrated by a psychopath or a terrorist”.
“All it takes is someone to bring a bomb on board to commit the worst terrorist attack the UK and the world has ever seen,” he added.
A Royal Navy spokeswoman said: "The Royal Navy takes security and nuclear safety extremely seriously and we are fully investigating both the issue of the unauthorised release of this document and its contents."
