Ex-police officers meet PSNI leadership face-to-face to press them over 'Sean' sectarianism claims

The group of four former officers, including former head of the PSNI's disciplinary wing Jon Burrows, met Mr Boutcher and his deputy Bobby Singleton for two-and-a-half hours on Monday.

Afterwards, Mr Burrows - who is acting as a spokesman for scores of ex-TSG officers who reject the accusations from a man known only as 'Sean' - said the meeting had been "frank".

“The retired group, one of whom had flown in from Scotland for the meeting, and myself made it clear to the Chief Constable and his Deputy that Sean’s account had been debunked through our private investigation and that now want Sean’s allegations as covered in the Belfast Telegraph officially and unequivocally declared untrue," said Mr Burrows.

"We also queried why Sean was described as 'thoroughly decent' despite having made allegations that caused great hurt to serving and retired officers [and] that the Chief Constable himself seems to have stated he did not happen.

"We appreciate the time given to our delegation by the PSNI leadership and some useful discussions took place, but we remain of the view the they have not been sufficiently robust in taking a clear stand on this issue."

The PSNI has been contacted, but had not responded at time of writing.

The issue stems from March 8, when The Belfast Telegraph published an interview with Sean (who is now retired) in which he said he had witnessed anti-Catholic bias within the unit.

This included hearing the phrase "fenian b******s", hearing disparaging comments about wearing ash on Ash Wednesday, and hearing people whistling 'The Sash' around the Twelfth.

He had said his message to a new recruit to the PSNI would be "think long and hard about it; long and hard - especially if you're a Roman Catholic".

Some 43 officers from Sean's old TSG then wrote a letter to voice their "utter rejection that any sectarian or bullying behaviour occurred in our team".

They said: "An allegation has been made anonymously and without a formal complaint and it is therefore not being investigated.

"In contrast to one anonymous report, the chief constable has 43 retired officers, and an entire TSG saying the allegations are categorically untrue and offering to provide sworn testimony."

On May 8, the chief constable had appeared before the Policing Board where he, at the very end of the meeting, gave an update on the Sean case.

He said he had met with Sean and his lawyer, and “I've no concerns that the blacks [his TSG unit], the officers, his colleagues, acted in a sectarian way towards him”, adding that “I cannot explain the article in the newspaper" (where he made his allegations).

But the chief constable also stressed repeatedly that Sean is a "thoroughly decent" man.

Sean’s lawyer has said he stands over his account of what happened, though he was also quoted as saying that the sectarianism he encountered was “nuanced” rather than “overt”.