PSNI officer resigns after fabricating crash notes

A PSNI officer who was convicted of perverting the course of justice by fabricating interview notes has resigned.
Police OmbudsmanPolice Ombudsman
Police Ombudsman

The officer submitted the notes to the Public Prosecution Service after claiming to have interviewed a man and woman involved in a road traffic collision, which happened in 2010.

However, both parties denied having been interviewed by the officer and questioned the authenticity of the documents.

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The issue came to light during a civil court hearing initiated by one of the drivers after the PPS directed that neither should be prosecuted.

The court was adjourned and the investigating police officer was summonsed to appear at a future hearing. He failed to attend, and when a lawyer subsequently asked for a copy of the original handwritten interview notes, he told his supervisor they had been lost.

The officer then reported unfit for duty nine days before the relisted hearing, which went ahead in his absence.

A subsequent PSNI review revealed a number of discrepancies in the case file. This resulted, in March 2012, in the matter being referred by the Chief Constable to the Police Ombudsman’s Office for independent investigation.

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When interviewed by an Ombudsman investigator, both drivers said they had been at work on the date the officer claimed the interviews had taken place.

There was no record of either having been at the police station when the interviews were supposed to have occurred.

Police records also showed that the officer was attending a call with a colleague at a time which overlapped with one of the interviews.

When interviewed, the officer said his mental state had been affected by a traumatic incident which he had received treatment for. He believed the interviews had taken place, but had no memory of dealing with the drivers.

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He also stated that he had tendered his resignation to the PSNI and it had been accepted.

The Ombudsman investigator submitted a file to the PPS which resulted in the officer being prosecuted for perverting the course of justice. He received a 12 month conditional discharge.

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