Fatal shooting was justified
THE shooting of the first man to be killed by the PSNI was justified according to an independent report by the Police Ombudsman's office.
Nuala O’Loan, the Police Ombudsman said the officer was right to open fire, however, she criticised aspects of the operation and questioned the reasoning behind the apparent deletion of vital records in the aftermath of the incident.
The 21-year-old Neil McConville was shot three times as he tried to evade police in a car near Lisburn in April 2003.
Mrs O'Loan said the officer feared for his colleague’s life, who had been knocked to the ground in front of the car.
Another man in the car was shot and injured in the incident at Ballinderry Upper.
He was later jailed for four years for possession of a sawn-off shotgun found in the vehicle.
But the ombudsman expressed ‘grave concerns’ that some intelligence information about the police operation had been deleted from a computer during her investigation.
She said she found it hard to believe evidence was deleted accidentally after her office had requested the information.
Mrs O’Loan criticised the police operation on the night and suggested to the Chief Constable the two officers in question should be removed to less critical duties.
She also criticised a number of senior officers who refused to co-operate with her inquiries and then retired while possible misconduct issues were being considered.
The police officer who fired the fatal shots said his firearm was accidentally switched to automatic instead of single fire, and when he intended to fire one shot he actually fired three.
The police said they had worked hard in recent years to ensure that all officers were aware of their duties and responsibilities to co-operate with police ombudsman investigations.
In a response to the report, the PSNI said: "The police service regrets the death of Neil McConville as we would the death of any citizen who loses their life in the course of a police operation.
"We note the contents of the report and its finding that the officer who fired the fatal shots was justified in using his firearm to protect the life of a colleague.”
MLA John O'Dowd expressed concern at the number of PSNI officers recommended for disciplinary hearings that retired following the incident and the impact that this has had on the Police Ombudsman's investigation.
He said: “It is essential that we have proper openness and full accountability.
"It is a huge cause for concern that all of the officers who were recommended for disciplinary hearings have retired,” he said.
“This has meant this investigation by the Ombudsman has not been able to look at all of the relevant facts or interview all of the relevant personnel.
“This will only undermine public confidence in the PSNI and their commitment to openness and accountability,” he said.
"I know that the family are disappointed that this has not been properly investigated, the police cannot kill people on our streets and think they will not be made accountable for such actions,” he said.
"The Ombudsman's report has highlighted a number of other serious issues including the two and half year delay in interviewing a PSNI officer who was 'on the sick', the lack of co-operation from Special Branch including evidence that some Special Branch files were deleted and one senior Special Branch officer retired before even being questioned.
“Sinn Fein will continue to fully support the family of Neil McConville and their demand for the truth about this shooting,” he said.
SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly raised a number of issues arising out of the Ombudsman’s report into the shooting.
She said: “This shooting happened in 2003 and we urgently need to know whether all the serious issues have been dealt with since by the Chief Constable.
“The first and most serious issue is the refusal by officers to co-operate with the Ombudsman’s office,” she said.
“I do not feel it should be an option for serving officers to refuse to co-operate with accountability measures nor should they be able to avoid them with the option of retirement.”
“Certainly there was clear incompetence in the overall police management of the incident, with no proper control procedure,” she said.
“We have got to be sure that all the factors contributing to a fatal outcome have been dealt with or will be dealt with.
“The same applies to automatic firing, it is absolutely unacceptable that officers should be going around with pistols set to burst-fire and this function should have been disabled as recommended.
“There are still too many deaths, too many fatal or near-fatal incidents and if training is not up to scratch we need something done about it,” she said.
“The SDLP holds firm to the principle that we should have a police service which is routinely unarmed.”
The McConville family have stated they are pursuing a civil action against the Chief Constable for operational failures which led to Neil’s death.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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