Failure one of worst in PSNI’s history and could damage faith in policing, warns SDLP
THE failure to disclose information to the Police Ombudsman relating to the Sean Graham killings is “one of the most disturbing developments in policing since the formation of the PSNI”, the SDLP has said.
Dolores Kelly MLA called for the Policing Board to “conduct a full and proper inquiry into what has transpired”.
The Ombudsman confirmed it had reopened new lines of inquiry into the attack on the lower Ormeau Road in 1992, as well as other loyalist killings in the north-west between 1988 and 1994 and the murder of Damien Walsh at a west Belfast coal depot in 1993.
It comes after investigators identified that information held by the police was not made available to staff investigating the bookies massacre, in which five people were killed.
“This is one of the most disturbing developments in policing since the formation of the PSNI,” said Ms Kelly (below), a Policing Board member. “It staggers belief that this information wasn’t disclosed and that the police claim it was human error.
“When the first Policing Board formed, it established its authority through interrogating the police investigation into the Omagh bombing. Many years later, this new Policing Board must establish its authority through the interrogation of this appalling situation.
“Of course, the Chief Constable and other police commanders responsible should appear before the board, and I will be tabling a motion for the Policing Board to request a full report from the Chief Constable about the situation.
“If the Policing Board does not request a formal report and conduct a formal inquiry, the new board will be seriously damaged from the very early days of its existence.”
Sinn Fein justice spokesman and Policing Board member Gerry Kelly said he believed the PSNI’s failure to disclose legacy documents goes “much, much further over a long period of time”.
“There is a cancer at the core of discovery,” he said. “This is a revelation that has shocked. An apology is not enough.
“The big question is, how deep does this go? I worry and believe that it might go right throughout the North and over a long period of time.
“I don’t know if this was a deliberate action or not. All I know is that this was not owned up to by the police until they had to.
“I don’t think this is about asking individuals to resign. Unfortunately, this is systemic.”
DUP MLA Mervyn Storey, also a Policing Board member, said a number of issues over how police deal with a large amount of sensitive information on legacy investigations had been raised.
“This raises concerns about how information is processed and passed on to oversight bodies like the Ombudsman,” he added. “We need to recognise that the police worked to gather information during a terrorist campaign. Evidence-gathering took place in an often dangerous and difficult environment.”
South Belfast DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly added
that full disclo- sure of evidence on Troubles-related cases was important. “In many circumstances, time has made investigations a lot more difficult. Any piece of relevant information could help in a quest for justice by families, such as is the case for the Kingsmill families,” she said.
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry MLA said “serious issues” had been raised.
“This undoubtedly has the potential to undermine confidence in the police and criminal justice system. That has to be acknowledged and addressed by the police and other agencies in the process,” he added.
“The Policing Board needs to determine whether this is an isolated human error, problems with the records and IT systems, or something else.
“We also need to know whether this is isolated to the cases identified by the Ombudsman, or if other cases may have been similarly affected.”