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THE POLICE SERVICE of Northern Ireland has apologised profusely after it was discovered that a number of “legacy” documents relating to killings in the 1990s weren’t given to Northern Ireland’s police ombudsman.
The cases relate to attacks which all involve Loyalist paramilitaries, including the betting shop killings where five people were killed.
On 5 February 1992, a mass shooting took place at the Sean Graham bookmakers on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast. Five civilians were killed: three men and two teenage boys, all of whom were Catholic. The UDA claimed responsibility for the attack.
Deputy Chief Constable Stephen Martin commented: “On behalf of the Police Service, I want to say to the families who have been affected by these disclosure failings; we are deeply and sincerely sorry.”
He said that the PSNI “never sought to deliberately withhold this information” from Office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI).
Human error is being cited as one of the reasons for the failure to furnish the Police Ombudsman with all available information.
Martin explained how the documents were omitted, saying that “a different researcher working elsewhere in the PSNI found the material while preparing for disclosure in response to civil litigation”.
The fact that one part of the organisation was able to find the information while the other did not is a result of a number of issues including the differing levels of experience and knowledge of our researchers, the sheer volume of the material involved and the limitations of the archaic IT systems.
The PSNI is estimated to hold over 44 million pages of paper and microform (microfiche and microfilm) related to cases.
The material isn’t stored in one place, and is held on different technologies, some of which cannot transfer information to one another; there is no central reference or inventory for every piece of information.
The Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire told BBC News: “My staff became aware that police were preparing to disclose a range of material as part of impending civil proceedings.
“Following a request from this office, police released this material to us, which helped identify significant evidence relevant to a number of our investigations.
“Following on from this, police have now also identified a computer system, which they say had not been properly searched when responding to previous requests for information. In that instance, it would seem information which police told us did not exist has now been found,” Maguire said.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, the ombudsman said:
As a statement of intent, I welcome the PSNI’s undertaking to address the issues which gave rise to the failure to disclose all relevant information to my Office. However, we need to explore with them how that will work in practice.
We need to discuss with police issues such as resourcing, personnel, and knowledge of legacy police storage systems to determine a new set of working practices which will ensure that in future my investigators are able to access all the information they require.
Martin said that: “We entirely agree with the Police Ombudsman, that the effective disclosure of information is central to any system for dealing with the past.
The PSNI has decided that “the best interim solution for public confidence in policing would be to give appropriately vetted PONI staff full and unfettered access to our legacy systems”. Legal advice is being sought on how this would be carried out.
Martin added that the police force “is committed to learning” from the incident, but it would need financial backing to implement any changes.
“PSNI have for a long time made clear that we are not adequately resourced to deal with the past and we have an outstanding business case with the Department for Justice for further substantial investment in our disclosure processes.”
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One unintended consequence of Brexit is that dozens of English news stories keep wandering across the pond.
That, or there’s a Journal.co.uk and I’ve accidentally found my way onto it…
@jamesdecay:
and accurate reporting would help.
“In his interview with BBC Radio 4 following his nomination, Moore spoke of his support for Brexit…”
That should be Boycott, unless Moore has since become a man and took over from Boycott in the interview.
@The Quare Fella: I’m going to give the UK Journal some leeway. They must be terribly overworked and understaffed…
It happened 21 years ago, he was punished by the courts. Move on..
@Paul O’Sullivan: yes move on…. and don’t honour the man with a knighthood… leave him in the shadows where he belongs
@Paul O’Sullivan: eh, the reason for his knighthood is also quite a long time ago. Even further back actually. Makes your argument a bit redundant.
@Dave O’Keeffe: I couldn’t give a flying f#£k if he got a knighthood. My argument is a third party interfering in a man’s life
@Paul O’Sullivan: as a 3rd party if very much sounds like he interfered in his victims life
“…Boycott pinned Moore down in a hotel room and punched her in the face 20 times before checking out and leaving her to pay the bill.”
@Smidgen Dublin: horrific
@Rebecca De Stanleigh: It would be if it were true. It’s difficult to prove you’re innocent when you’ve someone trying to blackmail you.
I give him the benefit of the doubt.
@bopter: I give her the benefit of the doubt based on the photos of her injuries produced in court evidence.
@bopter: He was convicted in a French court of law. And the excuse that in France you are guilty until proven innocent is both feeble and untrue; they also have the presumption of innocence. The only proof of her alleged blackmail is him whinging about it while calling a female BBC interviewer ‘love’.
@Smidgen Dublin: That was Moore’s testimony which Boycott has always refuted.
It’s a fact that this woman was in severe financial difficulties at the time and Boycott alleged that she was trying to blackmail him for £1 million.
Apart from this incident Boycott has no history of violence or abuse whatsoever. That doesn’t mean he’s innocent but the violence described in this case would point to a man incapable of holding his temper.
Finally, the French justice system is weighted in favour of the alleged victim. Innocent until proven guilty does not apply under the Napoleonic code (as far as I’m aware, that could have changed over time).
@Will: Scratch that last bit, a common misconception apparently that would be superseded by the UN declaration on Human Rights anyway.
@Will: What’s ails you? I feel sorry for you. You can’t beat a woman. Ever.
@Smidgen Dublin: Really, ever? You see a women beating your child you do nothing? A woman is beating your elderly parent? Your wife? A gang of women beating a man to death? Any defenseless being being beaten by a woman? The Woman is 6ft and 21 stone and man 5ft2 and 10 stone and she is beating him he should just take it?
@Craic_a_tower: What’s wrong with you? Why is meeting violence with violence the only resolution you see here?
@Will: I guess Will is a woman beater going by his defense of this guy.
@Craic_a_tower: you sure have a lot of fantasies about beating woman.
@Smidgen Dublin: Why are you exaggerating and suggesting women are always weak and physical intervention should never happen. If you saw a man beating a women would you not physically intervene? Are you saying you would just politely ask him to stop? I never said anything about being violent I asked you what you would do and you didn’t answer
@Craic_a_tower: I suggested nothing of the sort about women. No-one has to answer you.
@Smidgen Dublin: Well you said no man should beat a women ever why? Regardless of gender physically intervention may be required. If you don’t want to answer then don’t answer at all. Nice to have an opinion if you never have to explain it but state to everybody else.
@Craic_a_tower: Yes it is. Thank you.
Beats me why anyone deserves a Knighthood for playing Cricket. Also Theresa May might have been better to err on the side of caution and leave him out. Just make him another tin of buns Theresa.
@Aine O Connor: Chocolate Brownies to be precise.
@Aine O Connor: who, he beats you?
@Aine O Connor: You don’t think Sir Richard Hadlee deserved a knighthood?!
Two lovely black eyes
O what a surprise
Only for telling a man he was wrong
Two lovely black eyes
Song by charles coburn
1910
Puts the ‘false accusations ruin lives’ shite into perspective when you see that even a conviction doesn’t do anything to this pr**k.
Everyone, let’s boycott boycott!!!
On the one hand, he punched a woman in the face twenty times. But on the other hand, he ran up and down on a cricket field a lot. So, you know, two sides.
And I genuinely thought that stuff like domestic abuse is a requirement for knighthood.
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