BY AILEEN MURPHY
Police officers in Fermanagh have called for the suspension of the Police Ombudsman investigators who conducted a recent enquiry into the conduct of an officer in the county.
The call has been made by the Police Federation, an organisation which represents about 9,000 PSNI officers. A spokesperson for the Federation explained: "Officers are very unhappy with the way the case had been handled, and following legal advice they have taken this up with the Ombudsman's office and asked for the investigators to be suspended."
The Federation has also written to the Secretary of State to demand action be taken against the Ombudsman's office.
The Ombudsman's office has begun an internal investigation into the case which led to Constable Keith McCabe being charged with assaulting Brían O'Connor during an arrest.
The case was dismissed when it came before Fermanagh Magistrate's Court. The Resident Magistrate James McFarland said the allegations had been unfairly and improperly investigated.
In his ruling, Mr McFarland said the investigation had been, "quite clearly loaded against Constable McCabe from the word go."
The Magistrate went on: "It has all the hallmarks of a witch-hunt," and he added, "It's just about as unsatisfactory an investigation by the Ombudsman's office that it has been my misfortune to come across."
Among his criticisms, the Magistrate said Ombudsman investigators had not interviewed relevant witnesses. The Magistrate dismissed the case adding: "I must say that if I had the power to do it I would award costs against the Ombudsman."
The Police Federation has urged the Ombudsman to take these comments on board. A spokesperson explained: "These comments are very scathing, and the Magistrate made it clear he was very concerned about the Ombudsman's investigation and that the matter should be looked at further.
"This officer was unfairly treated. We've made a decision to make a formal complaint to the Secretary of State through our solicitors, and we expect him to look seriously at this issue. We have also spoken to the Police Ombudsman and immediately asked that he take action to reassign the investigators to other duties or suspend them."
The complainant in the court case, Brían O'Connor, has also criticised the Ombudsman's handling of the case.
He said: "The Police Ombudsman's handling of the case was also far from satisfactory. Important relevant witnesses were not interviewed by the Ombudsman's office, and their exclusion was allowed to undermine the integrity of the case and ultimately assisted in the case being dismissed. Had these witnesses been interviewed, I believe the prosecution case would have been enhanced, so their exclusion again beggars belief, and rendered the entire exercise pointless from the start."
A spokesperson for the Ombudsman's office said the investigation would be reviewed following the Court's ruling. He said: "This is a most unusual criticism of a Police Ombudsman investigation but is, nonetheless, a very serious one. We have tasked our Director of Investigations, who was not directly involved in this case, to look at how the matter was handled, particularly in light of the Magistrate's comments.
"If there has been any fault, as has been alleged, we will establish if it was an individual problem or a problem with the process.
"If it is the case that there are matters to be addressed, we will address them," he added.
