Jon Burrows: The Police Ombudsman's office played a key role in the scandalous treatment of two PSNI officers on the Ormeau Road

In articles in this newspaper over the last two weeks I have revealed the disturbing truth behind the biggest scandal in the history of the PSNI.

(To read the first article, click here: ‘The whole saga surrounding the Ormeau Road incident is a microcosm of what is wrong in NI’, June 11. To read the second article click here: ‘Amnesty for suspected lawbreakers was a further demand after Ormeau Road incident,’ June 19)

Two law abiding PSNI officers, who had conducted themselves in an exemplary manner were thrown under the bus to nullify political threats and demands.

The officers were the innocent victims of an entirely concocted story that they had attacked families during a Covid-19 compliant memorial service. No such thing happened, and the evilness and sensitivity of the Sean Graham’s massacre was exploited by some republicans to damage the PSNI’s reputation. I also revealed the range of demands that were made by the republican movement to the PSNI, including the suspension of a police officer and an amnesty for those suspected of breaking the law.

In the end, it took 39 months to unravel the monstrous injustice inflicted on these officers, despite their innocence being patently obvious once the body-worn video was reviewed. It should never had taken so long to right a clear wrong, but the officers were failed not only by their own leaders, but also by the institutions that are supposed to hold policing to account.

I will begin by highlighting the failures of the Police Ombudsman and for the absence of doubt, when I refer to the Ombudsman it is to the organisation and not the holder of that office. Immediately after the original incident, the Ombudsman started an investigation following a complaint from the person who had been arrested. A fair and effective investigation is open minded and looks to either prove or disprove the allegation. However, the Ombudsman investigation appeared to me to be singularly focused on finding some wrongdoing by the suspended police officer. The investigation resulted in ludicrous and irrational misconduct charges against this officer, all of which were eventually dismissed in misconduct proceedings.

The Ombudsman investigation glossed over the prima facie unlawful directions given to the young officers to take an arrested suspect to a republican advice centre, instead of a police custody suite. The unlawful and politically driven decision making by senior police officers was either missed or ignored. The false allegations levelled against the officers by members of the public were not identified and referred to the PSNI for investigation.

After the High Court ruled that the PSNI leadership’s treatment of the officers was unlawful, the Ombudsman refused to change their own course and they continued to recommend the same misconduct charges. At the same time, following the lodging of two complaints about the conduct of the former Chief Constable Simon Bryne and his Deputy Mark Hamilton, the Ombudsman refused to investigate these complaints. I was one of the complainants and the Ombudsman ceased even acknowledging my correspondence.

The Policing Board also spectacularly failed these officers and the wider public throughout this scandal. Inexplicably, some board members agreed to view the body-worn video shortly after the incident and offered their assessment of the officer's conduct to the Chief Constable and his Deputy. They had no lawful authority to watch the video in the context of an operational police decision, no professional experience to assess it and disgracefully allowed themselves to become embroiled in that operational decision making.

The Policing Board is not only the accountability body for the PSNI’s performance, but also the disciplinary authority for senior police officers. It utterly conflicted itself through its inexplicable actions.

Earlier this year, the Discipline Committee of the Policing Board officially announced that it had carefully considered complaints made about two senior police officers in relation to the unlawful suspension and had found no misconduct. I wrote to the chair of this committee, who confirmed to me that they did not view the body worn video of the incident, which goes to the heart of the case.

How did the committee carefully consider the complaints without reviewing key evidence? Why did some board members view the body-worn video when it was inappropriate, whilst other board members declined to view it when it was vital to discharging their disciplinary responsibilities?

In September, the Policing Board announced there would be a review into its role in the Ormeau Road scandal. Recently, I wrote to the board to establish why the review had not begun; I was informed that the Justice Minister had taken charge of it from them and was setting its terms of reference. This is perplexing, because in Simon Byrne’s personal journal where he records his reasons for the officer's suspension, he refers to a discussion with an individual referred to by the initials ‘MJ’, who apparently expressed concerns about the executive collapsing.

Mr Justice Scoffield suggested that ‘MJ’ was the Minister of Justice. This begs the question, how can Minister Long set the terms of reference for a review in which she might have a conflict of interest. I have raised this in writing with the minister, but I have received no reply. Nine months after a review was promised, we still await clarity on what it entails, the form it will take and why someone who may have a conflict of interest is in charge of it.

Over the course of three articles, I have outlined serious concerns about what has happened in this case. Not only was the independence of policing compromised and innocent police officers treated disgracefully, but there is evidence that the rule of law was corrupted for political expediency. The entire saga is a reflection on the health of our democracy and the corroded state of our rule of law in Northern Ireland. The secretary of state ought to intervene and ensure a proper judicial inquiry into this scandal takes place.

• Jon Burrows is a former senior PSNI officer. The web version of this essay will link to his two previous articles