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Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Police Ombudsman won't investigate incident in Bangor where PSNI fired shots after man seen with imitation gun
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told the Policing Board yesterday that the watchdog is 'not opening an investigation' after shots were fired by police. The incident occurred on the evening of May 18 in High Street in Bangor, where a man was seen in a business with a firearm. Belfast Magistrates Court was later told the RAF veteran pointed a 'realistic looking' imitation gun at armed police demanding to be shot. It was stated he put officers in such a state of fear they fired several rounds at the 45-year-old during a near two hour stand-off. During the incident, to which an armed response unit was called, the unnamed individual identified himself as a veteran of both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The man was later arrested and charged with a range of offences, including 'possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear and violence'. The response of officers was praised by Mr Singleton. 'An individual clearly and significantly in distress, who pointed a fire arm at them (officers) in High Street, Bangor,' he said. 'Having reviewed the circumstances surrounding the discharge of the police firearms, the Police Ombudsman have confirmed that they are not opening an investigation. 'I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the officers, who I think demonstrated exceptional professionalism, courage resilience and restraint.' Also discussed in the meeting was the controversial arrest of pro-Palestinian activists last month. Sue Pentel (72), a member of the group Jews for Palestine, was arrested alongside a fellow activist in her 50s in relation to 'criminal damage' to a Barclay's bank cash machine in Belfast. Stickers had been placed on the ATM. The arrest of the pair sparked criticism from some politicians, including from the First Minister, and the public. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said an investigation had been launched by the Police Ombudsman in relation to the arrest. 'We are limited to what we can say due to the Ombudsman investigation,' he said. 'I, of course, had the luxury at the time of seeing the body worn video. 'I was satisfied as I said around the professionalism with which the officers dealt with those that were protesting. 'I welcome the Ombudsman's investigation into it. If they find there is organisational learning within that, of course, we will respond to that.' In relation to the recent withdrawal of allegations of sectarianism by a Catholic former police officer, named as 'Sean' to protect his identity, Mr Singleton said he was 'relieved' that the accusations were retracted. 'In recent months public attention has been drawn to the very serious allegations of sectarianism in the police force,' he said. 'Sean's claims understandably caused public concern. The type of behaviour that was alleged was, as I have said at the time, absolutely disgraceful. 'Since the last board meeting, Sean has of course now unequivocally retracted his allegations. 'He has acknowledged that they were unfounded and he has expressed deep regret for the distress that has been caused. 'I am relieved that Sean has done this, and I think it is the best possible outcome for everybody.' It was also revealed in the meeting that four officers had been dismissed by the Chief Constable, John Boutcher, both for inappropriate material being shared on WhatsApp chats and one for 'misusing substances'. 'In the last two months as well, the Chief Constable has personally convened four fast-tracked special case misconduct hearings,' he said. 'Three of these hearings were in respect to inappropriate material in private WhatsApp groups, discovered as part of a Police Ombudsman investigation. 'And a further hearing related to substance misuse. All four officers were dismissed by the Chief Constable,' said Mr Singleton. The Policing Board also discussed an online 'gangs of boys', referred to as 'the Com' by police. They were referred to as 'online misogynists' by the National Economic Crime director general, Graeme Biggar. 'We are living our lives more online. We see that play out in crimes in relation to online fraud, cyber-crimes and child sexual abuse and exploitation,' said Mr Biggar. 'The particular example is in what we highlighted in our March publication was the emergence over the last two years, in particular the last year, of a new-ish phenomenon generally called 'the Com'. 'This is an online grouping of gangs of boys with a nihilistic, misogynistic mindset, who focus on grooming and coercing young girls into abusing themselves, and into self-harm. 'This is in particular an English speaking phenomenon, but it causes significant harm. 'We did an alert out to chief constables in March. We have a number of investigations into it across the UK. 'We have had a number of prosecutions so far. We have not had incidences of this in Northern Ireland, yet. We don't have any investigations here, but it will come.' Two weeks ago, a number of families had been forced out of their homes in north Belfast as a result of a series of sectarian attacks. News Catch Up - Thursday 5 June Mr Henderson told the board a man has been arrested and charged in relation to the attacks. 'On May 21, that night we saw attacks on houses, windows broken. It was clearly a sectarian attempt to intimidate people out of their homes,' he said. 'We will bring all of our investigative powers to bring people to justice. 'We have investigated, and, this week, we have arrested and charged a male in relation to damage caused to one of the properties.'
Belfast Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
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.'
Belfast Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Operation Kenova: Families of Stakeknife victims to receive reports following security vetting delays
Reports outlining evidence uncovered by Operation Kenova will be delivered to families of victims in the coming weeks, the Policing Board has been told following months of delays by the UK Government. Operation Kenova focused on the activities of the British Army agent inside the IRA known as Stakeknife, west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who died 2023. Families of some victims were promised that they would be provided with bespoke reports outlining the evidence in the relevant cases that the probe uncovered. Head of Operation Kenova, Sir Iain Livingstone, previously expressed his frustration over delays in security vetting of the documents before their release. Sir Iain told a Policing Board meeting on Thursday that he received a letter from the Cabinet Office on behalf of the Government saying they were 'now satisfied' with the family reports. 'They are now complete and have been subject to security checking and in the next number of weeks families should receive those reports,' he said. 'I should reiterate that members of the team have met personally with families and verbally shared some details.' Sir Iain said 26 family reports will now be delivered to families. News Catch Up - Thursday 8 May They were passed to UK Government between August and October last year to go through security checking which was delayed until after a decision had been made on whether to lift restrictions on naming Stakeknife – a recommendation of the Kenova Interim Report. Operation Kenova investigated more than 50 murders committed during the Troubles and published an interim report in March last year which concluded that Stakeknife probably cost more lives than he saved. Currently Stakeknife's identity is protected by the Government's 'neither confirm nor deny' policy which is applied to protect sensitive information including the identity of agents. Members of the Kenova team previously met with Government to discuss the possibility of proceeding with family reports without revealing Stakeknife's identity.
BBC News
06-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
PSNI recruitment: More than 3,000 apply to join police service
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said 3,100 people have applied to become police officers since the start of the latest recruitment told the Policing Board that people had applied from "all over Northern Ireland" since applications opened on 22 new campaign, which closes on 12 February, is the first significant drive to recruit trainees since Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) launched the recruitment campaign last month, aiming to lift numbers from an all-time low. Last year, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher stated policing in Northern Ireland was at a "watershed moment", with the lowest number of officers in PSNI Boutcher repeated a warning that officer numbers have declined to "a dangerous and unprecedented level of 6,300 through underfunding".He said the recruitment campaign was "going well" and added the initial plan is to recover officer numbers to 7,000 over the next three chief constable was asked about efforts to increase interest in recruitment from a range of told board members of the 3,100 applications made by the beginning of this week, 59% were Protestant and 28% were 7,000 people applied to join the PSNI in its 2020 recruitment drive. About one third of those who wanted to join were from the Catholic community - 2,158 - 223 more than the previous recruitment drive in PSNI is under pressure to increase Catholic representation, with senior officers previously warning it could begin to slip Féin and the SDLP had previously called for the reintroduction of a 50-50 recruitment policy, which ran for a decade until meant 50% of all recruits had to be from a Catholic background. Finance remains 'critical issue' The PSNI was allocated an additional £37m funding last November, to address its immediate budget Thursday, the chief constable said "the issue of finance remains a critical one" and that the PSNI "will have to find a way to pay for the recruitment of officers and staff.""The additional cost to recover our workforce levels is around £200m over the next five years.""As the board knows, I continually set out the consequences of the organisation not being able to keep people safe, due to our significantly reduced and dangerously low workforce numbers.""This campaign is a hugely positive development and the actual recruitment cannot come soon enough."Recruits will be offered a starting salary of £34,000, which includes a £4,000 allowance commonly referred to as "danger money".
