Ex-PSNI officer who now says he lied about sectarianism restated his views after bizarre exchange
Two and a half months ago, 'Sean' did an extended interview with the Belfast Telegraph in which he said he had been one of the PSNI's first Catholic recruits, but he regretted ever joining the police.
We verified his identity and put his allegations to the PSNI, which did not dispute them but said that a senior officer would meet him to discuss them. Days later, he said he was taking legal action against the PSNI.
However, today he said in a statement that he had 'misled' us, that he is 'deeply sorry' and that everything he'd claimed about sectarianism was 'untrue and did not in fact occur'.
The statement was not sent to the Belfast Telegraph but published in the News Letter.
He gave no reason for inventing the allegations.
Our attempts to contact Sean failed, with his phone number now not taking calls.
We are continuing to protect his identity due to the genuine threat from dissident republicans which we have independently verified.
However, we can now report that two weeks ago, Sean privately told us he continued to stand over his allegations.
A fortnight ago, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher went to the Policing Board to say he'd met Sean and was highly impressed by the 'thoroughly decent' former officer.
However, bizarrely, he said he was also satisfied that there had been no sectarianism – and that the unit against whom the allegations were made were also great people.
Mr Boutcher said: 'I cannot explain the article in the newspaper'.
When pressed by UUP MLA Alan Chambers on whether Sean had stood over his allegations, the Chief Constable said he wouldn't be discussing the issue further.
The Belfast Telegraph spoke to Sean that afternoon to ask for clarification on what had been said in the meeting with Mr Boutcher.
Referring to the sectarianism he now says didn't happen, he told us: 'At the end of the day, this is something that's happened me and now it's been totally denied from the top down, so where do I stand? How do I make it more truer [sic]…it already is true. I don't really know where I stand.'
He went on: 'I spoke to the Chief Constable. We had a great conversation for an hour, hour and a half. I explained my experiences and now I've had this today that he's said nothing's happened. I don't know what's going on…I just don't understand it; I don't understand it, to be honest. It's all very unsettling, to be honest.'
When we put to him that the Chief Constable's statement at the Policing Board – where he said Sean was an impressive individual but so was his former unit – left the situation confused because either the incidents happened or didn't happen, he said: 'Of course.'
He said the reason he wasn't asking for an investigation into the allegations was that he had 'no confidence' in the PSNI handling of such claims and 'this goes straight to the top and nobody's doing anything about it'.
Pretending that he was dropping his legal action for reasons other than that the claims were untrue, he said it would 'cost a terrible lot of money' to take a legal case and his medical retirement meant he didn't want to enter a court battle.
Referring to the Policing Board meeting, he said he was 'so surprised' to hear what Mr Boutcher said because 'the story I told him was basically the story I told you'.
He went on: 'When I've got the Chief Constable coming out today and saying 'well, there is nothing', that just deflates me. I just feel for all the other officers in the PSNI now; they don't have a voice – they'll probably look at this today and say 'what's the point'.'
He said he felt that he was being 'ganged up on'.
Today, Sean said the opposite, describing his former colleagues as 'outstanding police officers and wonderful human beings'.
He said: 'The allegations I made are all untrue. I am unequivocal about that. Nobody subjected me to sectarian abuse for wearing ash on my forehead.
Not once did I hear Catholic colleagues being referred to as 'fenian ba**ards'. I never heard colleagues whistling the sash in corridors. I never heard or saw colleagues referring to nationalist politicians on TV as 'fenians'.
'I am deeply sorry that I claimed I had experienced sectarian abuse or witnessed sectarianism in the PSNI...I am also truly sorry that I misled the Belfast Telegraph and by extension the public.'
Sean gave no clear explanation for why he'd behaved as he did, beyond saying that he'd been medically discharged from the PSNI with complex post traumatic stress disorder and 'being unwell has also made me vulnerable in ways upon which I do not wish to expand on publicly'.
Days after his interview was published, Sean became a client of prominent Belfast solicitor Kevin Winters, who put out a statement on his behalf in which he said he was going to sue the PSNI over the discrimination.
After the Policing Board, Sean then got Mr Winters to issue a statement in which he said he stood over every word of his interview.
After being unable to contact Sean today, we spoke to Mr Winters. He said: 'Given solicitor-client confidentiality, we can make no comment suffice to say that any previous representations made were on instruction.'
Today Mr Boutcher issued a statement in which he made no criticism of Sean for his dishonesty, despite that leading to anger and hurt among his former colleagues.
Instead, the Chief Constable said: 'I want to acknowledge Sean's courageous decision to issue this statement and I urge everyone to respect Sean's plea for privacy'.
Mr Boutcher emphasised that 'there was no sectarianism in this case' and said he was 'grateful to Sean for setting the record straight'.
He added: 'After my meeting with Sean I described him as a decent man and his statement of retraction is nothing short of what I expected. To their huge credit the very colleagues Sean criticised also described him to me as a good and decent man.'
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