Former head of PSNI discipline says claims by former officer 'Sean' need clarity

Jon Burrows was commenting as the saga around accusations of sectarianism from 'Sean' enters its 10th week.

The now-retired Tactical Support Group (TSG) officer had made claims in the Belfast Telegraph in March that his former officers had shown anti-Catholic sectarianism – something which scores of his former colleagues have since denied.

​On Thursday the Chief Constable Jon Boutcher told the Policing Board that “there is no legal case or ongoing investigation” concerning the sectarianism claims (it had previously been reported that Sean was suing the force for damages).

And having now met Sean in person, Mr Boutcher told the meeting: “I've no concerns that the blacks [his TSG unit], the officers, his colleagues, acted in a sectarian way towards him.”

The News Letter on Friday approached KRW Law, Sean’s lawyer, for a statement on the case but did not get a reply. The Belfast Telegraph and Irish News both quoted lawyer Kevin Winters as saying that Sean stood by the allegations raised in the Belfast Telegraph.

But they also quoted the lawyer as saying “there was no evidence of any overt sectarianism ... Sean explained that it was very much nuanced and understated”.

Mr Burrows told the News Letter on Friday that this is “puzzling,” because Sean had alleged that the phrase “fenian b******s” had been used, which Mr Burrows described as “extremely blatant overt sectarianism”.

He said: “The retired TSG officers and myself will not rest until this matter is dealt with properly and will complete clarity.”

Mr Burrows has also told us: “It makes no sense that we are on the one hand told that Sean stands over his statement of extremely overt sectarianism in PSNI that he witnessed. On the other hand, his solicitor says that it was agreed at the meeting of the chief constable that there was no evidence of any overt sectarianism. The chief constable himself says that he does not believe there was any sectarianism in his team towards anybody.

“We are also told that the lawsuit has been dropped. So what is Sean’s current allegation? How has it changed? Why has it changed? Has there been a clear retraction or not? These allegations against the TSG were made on the front page of the Belfast Telegraph and two pages inside on the 8th of March 2025.

“Then on the front page of the Irish News it was reported that he stood over his allegations.

“What has changed? On what basis is the chief constable saying that Sean is a thoroughly decent person, yet on the other hand he is saying that he is satisfied that what Sean alleged did not happen? I can’t see how these statements are reconcilable. Either what Sean alleged is true or is false.”

In his statement to the Policing Board on Thursday the chief constable, while denying Sean had been a victim of sectarianism, also said: “I know there will have been sectarianism, racism, bigotry in the PSNI, because it's everywhere. It exists everywhere in society. It will exist amongst members, or members that have been, on the Policing Board.”

He also said that the police will be doing a survey “where if people have got any concerns around any protected characteristics that they may have in whatever way that may manifest itself, that the survey will see how confident they are in the organisation”.