Policing Board seeks report on PSNI’s failure to disclose file on Sean Graham killings
THE Policing Board has asked the Chief Constable for a full report after it emerged that the PSNI had failed to disclose “significant information” relating to a notorious loyalist mass shooting.
The Board has requested the report from George Hamilton by early next week.
The PSNI has come under fire this week for failing to disclose “significant, sensitive information” to the Police Ombudsman relating to the deaths of five people in an UFF attack at Sean Graham bookmakers on Belfast’s lower Ormeau Road in 1992.
Board members will then consider the report and take a decision on how to take the issue forward with the Chief Constable.
Policing Board member Mervyn Storey MLA said it was “right and proper” that the Board had all the facts at their disposal before taking decisions.
“What we have as a Board is the statement from the Ombudsman and a statement from the PSNI.
“We want the police to tell us what did happen so we can get a full understanding of the challenges they face and how those challenges played a part,” he said.
“People will want to put their own interpretation on events, but clearly there are questions, not only from the families immediately affected but, as we’ve seen since, for other grieving families.”
Meanwhile, former Special Branch officer Dr William Matchett (right), now an author and academic, has said police officers have been left working in a climate of fear by the “insatiable appetite” for legacy investigations.
“The RUC is an easy target. It doesn’t exist any more and does not have the ability to fight back,” he said. “Police officers of today quite simply don’t have the capabilities, expert knowledge and technology to do it. The number of requests has increased remarkably and the pressure not to make a mistake is intense.
“Fear of failure is not conducive to doing the job right.”
Mr Matchett said “policing was much too political now, and the people with the skills to navigate the systems are not there any more”. “Looking from a distance, the situation is critical and it’s inevitable that another missing document is just around the corner. The people who want this to happen know it will happen again.
“The trust has been eaten away over years and now they’re taking bigger and bigger bites. The appetite is insatiable.”
He also argued that the Chief Constable’s decision in the wake of the revelations to give the Ombudsman’s office “unfettered access” to files would raise further complications.
“If the Ombudsman is allowed in, as has been offered, will he then be seen as an arm of the PSNI? If he fails to turn up a file, then it’s discovered, will the Ombudsman be embroiled in a ‘collusion’ scandal?” Mr Matchett asked.
“Thirty years ago there was no planning for legacy investigations on this scale, and people need to remember it’s not as simple as typing a name into Google and coming up with answers.”
In response, a spokesman for the police watchdog said: “It’s vital that Police Ombudsman investigators have access to all relevant police information while conducting investigations. The Deputy Chief Constable has himself said that he entirely agrees that the effective disclosure of information is central to any system for dealing with the past.”
The spokesman also said Police Ombudsman investigators “are appropriately vetted for the material they access during the course of their enquiries”.
“However, we will need to discuss with police issues such as resourcing, personnel, and knowledge of legacy police stor- age systems to determine a new set of working practices which will ensure that in future our investigators are able to access all the information they require,” he added.
Ken Funston of the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) victims group, said frustration with the system is creating an opportunity for some who do not have the best interests of victims and their families at heart.
“It is extremely frustrating that the vast majority of requests for assistance from the PSNI are refused, not answered or receive a short letter with scant information,” he said.
“It is understandable why some people resort to contacting PONI (the Police Ombudsman), often through frustration and not as a result of clear evidence of misconduct or criminal acts by the RUC or the PSNI.
“It is in this vacuum that those who do not always have victims’ and survivors’ best interests at heart, are able to make unfounded allegations.”
Kenny Donaldson, a spokesman for Innocent Victims United, added: “We are concerned at a dangerous trend emerging that, in the absence of terrorism being seen to being held accountable for its heinous crimes, the tables are being turned and the focus of anger is being directed upon the security forces and others.”