Questions over 'freedom' of team to probe killings
A HIGH-powered group of politicians is to meet the PSNI to confirm whether DNA tests are being done on a container of aging terrorist weapons.
One Policing Board member last night expressed doubts as to whether the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team (HET) is really free to carry out investigations into more than 3,200 Troubles-related deaths.
Last summer the Northern Ireland Office's Forensic Service briefed a royal visitor that they had a container load of terrorist weapons dating back to the early days of the Troubles which they could now realistically test for DNA evidence.
Yesterday the News Letter revealed that neither the Northern Ireland Office nor PSNI's HET is able to say if they had begun testing any of the weapons, despite having already reopened 10 per cent of the cases of the 3,268 deaths they are investigating.
HET said it did not have the information available and that any such DNA tests may only be disclosed in possible court cases. Much of the first year of its work was taken up in collecting 7,000 evidence exhibits, files and data and it already has 29 cases in the final stages of resolution.
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said he had much respect for HET but that a high-powered DUP delegation would be seeking a meeting with it after the News Letter investigations.
"I am obviously very concerned at the prospect of cases being reviewed without full forensic DNA evidence being in the possession of HET," he said.
"It is currently looking at cases from the early 1970s, a period in which there were many murders linked by use of one or more weapons. This DNA evidence could be crucial in such cases.
"Myself and my party colleagues from the Policing Board and Westminster will be seeking a meeting to ascertain the current position and to see if extra funding may be required to carry out these tests."
He said he had personally only had positive experiences of HET so far.
UUP Policing Board member Danny Kennedy said: "It would be a matter of concern as to whether HET is being completely thorough and whether they are allowed to be completely thorough.
"There is an obvious concern HET will run short of money as it is having to focus on so many cases of concern referred to it from the Police Ombudsman. This is not in my mind why HET was set up.
"It causes us to ask whether the Government really has the concerns of victims at heart. That is not the experience of a great many families and certainly not how it appears with the hierarchy of cases being created for HET as a result of the Police Ombudsman's mistaken approach."
The Historical Enquiries Team has 75 investigating officers who must close 40 historical murder cases a month, later ramping up to 60 per month. During a recent interview the News Letter was told there were real problems in getting enough qualified investigators.
While HET has 4m a year for six years to investigate 3,268 Troubles-related deaths, the Police Ombudsman had a budget last year almost twice as large, at 7.5m.
The Northern Ireland Office says the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, into 13 deaths, has now cost 176m. Labour's Tessa Jowell says former Northern Ireland Secretary of State John Reid puts the true cost of the Bloody Sunday inquiry at 400m.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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