Defending indefensible no longer acceptable PSNI told

Posted By: April 03, 2020

Connla Young.Irish news. Belfast. Friday, April 3, 2020

The Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland report urged the service to immediately review the appointment and training of staff responsible for disclosing information.

The PSNI failed to provide the Police Ombudsman with all the information it holds in relation to the murder of five Catholic men by the UDA at Sean Graham bookmakers, on Belfast’s Ormeau Road, in 1992.

Relatives for Justice chief executive Mark Thompson, who has supported the families of those killed, last night said the “PSNI has treated the office of the Police Ombudsman with utter contempt when it comes to legacy issues”.

“A culture exists within the PSNI that seeks to defend the RUC Special Branch and this is the root cause of the problem,” he added.

“Defending the indefensible is no longer acceptable.

“The PSNI has been in the vanguard of denying families access to files and documents concerning the murders of their loved ones; despite their public pronouncements to the contrary.

“One only has to look at the long list of cases where they have fought families in the courts to prevent disclosures and the publication of reports in murders by illegal paramilitaries.

“The ordinary public might ask why?

“The families bereaved and those injured might well guess the answer.”