FIVE POLICE OFFICERS have been disciplined in Northern Ireland following a Police Ombudsman investigation found that the police had failed to properly investigate a fire at the Sean Dolan GAA clubhouse in Derry in December 2011.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday 28 December 2011 and caused extensive damage to the building.
Police Ombudsman investigators spoke to a senior GAA Club member following the fire, who said he met two the two police officers and Fire Service investigators at the scene, who told him there had been no sign of a forced entry and that the fire may have been caused by an electrical fault.
However, the next day, the club member said he met a Constable and Fire Service investigators, who told him they were almost definite the fire had been caused by an electrical fault and that there was no indication of a crime.
CCTV
The same police officer contacted the club member again later that day stating that after watching the footage from the CCTV cameras in the clubhouse he had to reiterate his view that the premises had not been deliberately set on fire.
A press release was later issued by police stating that the cause of the fire was not suspicious.
Two members of the GAA club collected the footage from police and within five minutes of looking at it they saw ‘shadowy figures’ on the footage and a number of bright flashes from within the building.
They then contacted members of Sinn Fein, who arranged a meeting with senior police personnel and together they viewed the footage.
On 30 December 2011. the police issued a fresh public statement, stating that they were now treating the fire as arson.
A new Detective Sergeant was appointed to re-investigate the incident.
In January 2012, the PSNI referred concerns about the effectiveness of the original investigation of the fire to the Police Ombudsman’s Office.
Investigators visited the scene, watched the CCTV footage, examined all relevant police documentation and spoke to police officers, fire service officers and members of the club.
Relied on opinion
They discovered that the Detective Sergeant who had been assigned to investigate the fire said he had relied on the opinion of the Fire Service investigators to ‘point him in the right direction’.
He said he could not recall suggesting to club members that the fire had been caused by an electrical fault.
The Detective Sergeant said that he did view the CCTV footage for a matter of minutes on a small screen and said the picture quality was not good.
The officer confirmed that he did see ‘flickering’ but said he thought this was caused a car indicator light or something similar.
He said that no door-to-door inquiries were done and he did not check the perimeter of the clubhouse and did not notice a roof tile which had been removed.
He then appointed the seconded Constable to continue the investigation.
No experience
The Constable acknowledged to the Police Ombudsman investigators that he had no experience of such incidents as he had just been seconded to the Criminal Investigations Department.
He said he received little or no guidance from the Detective Sergeant or more experienced officers.
He said he also watched the CCTV footage in its entirety but focused mainly on the upstairs area of the clubhouse after staff had left. He admitted he did not show the Fire Service Investigators all of the footage in his possession and that he failed to conduct a number of other inquiries before he deemed the fire not to be suspicious.
One member of the fire service that was inteviewed said that on the basis of the material shown to them by the PSNI, which they believed was all the relevant footage, they concluded that the fire had been intense and was most likely caused by an electrical fault, as there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.
The Crime Scene Investigator who had also attended the scene was also interviewed as part of the investigation.
She said there were no signs of a forced entry or smell of petrol. She said she and the Constable initially watched the CCTV on small monitor which had a number of small windows, each showing footage from different parts of the premises.
Electrical fault conclusion
She too said she saw the flash on screen but she concluded that the most probable cause of the fire was an electrical fault started in the roof space.
Following the investigation, the Police Ombudsman, Dr Michael Maguire, recommended that the Detective Sergeant and the seconded Constable be disciplined for their failure to investigate the fire properly and that a Duty Sergeant and two Detective Inspectors also face discipline for their failure to supervise and guide the investigation.
They said that the initial investigation “lacked leadership, direction and supervision”.
They added that the police “failed to conduct basic investigative enquiries such as checking the perimeter of the club house, conducting house to house inquiries, thoroughly examining the CCTV footage or seeking to speak to the 999 caller who reported the fire”.
The Detective Sergeant initially assigned as the investigating Officer had no previous experience in attending a fire of this scale and the Constable who he appointed to continue the investigation had minimal experience. Together they received insufficient guidance and assistance from more experienced officers,” said the Police Ombudsman.
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