BREIVIK REPORT - HE COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED EARLIER

Norway police 'could have caught Breivik sooner'

LIVE: A report's findings are delivered into the response of the emergency services to the killings by Anders Breivik on 22 July 2011

Norway's police could have prevented the bombing of central Oslo and caught mass killer Anders Behring Breivik faster, an official report says.

The independent inquiry's findings have just been released. Police could have responded faster last year, they say.

Breivik has admitted killing 77 people and wounding more than 240 others when he bombed central Oslo and then opened fire at a summer camp on Utoeya Island.

The police have been widely criticised for taking too long to reach Utoeya.

A verdict in Breivik's trial is due on 24 August. He claimed he was trying to stop Muslims from taking over Norway.

The inquiry concluded that Breivik's bombing of government buildings on 22 July 2011 could have been prevented through effective implementation of existing security measures.

The findings, quoted by Norwegian media, also say "the government's ability to protect people on Utoeya failed".

"Faster police action was actually possible. The perpetrator could have been stopped earlier on 22 July."

But according to the report, there is "no basis" for saying that Norway's domestic intelligence agency, the PST, "could and should have averted the attacks".

The report praises the government's communications to the public on the day that Breivik struck.

In the aftermath of the attacks the police were criticised for their failure to use a helicopter once alerted to the shootings, and the bungled attempt to reach the island on an inflatable boat.

The intelligence co-operation between the police and other security bodies is also under scrutiny. Many Norwegians have asked why the police failed to monitor Breivik's activities before the attacks.

Most of the dead were young activists who were taking part in a summer camp on Utoeya run by the governing Labour Party.

The attacks, regarded as the worst act of violence in Norway since World War II, sparked a national debate about the nature of tolerance and democracy in the country.

The panel of five trial judges will have to rule on Breivik's sanity when they deliver their verdict.

Their conclusion will determine whether he is given a long prison sentence or is sent to a secure psychiatric ward.

Breivik's 10-week trial was marked by harrowing testimony from witnesses about his shootings. Some victims were shot in the head at point-blank range. In the meticulously planned attack, Breivik wore a fake police uniform and methodically hunted down victims on the island.

He refused to plead guilty, evoking the "principle of necessity". He accused the Labour Party of promoting multiculturalism and endangering Norway's identity.