Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Marie Anderson returns to work after long absence

In a statement this morning, Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson, said she has returned to work today (Monday 6 January 2025), following what she said had been a period of illness.

In June the Assembly was told that Ms Anderson had taken a leave of absence from work due to ill health.

“I am pleased to be back at work and am looking forward to re-commencing my role,” she said today.

“I would like to thank my senior staff who led the work of the office during my illness and continued to demonstrate the value of our investigations in building public confidence in independent investigation of police complaints and in our work to improve policing.”

In October 2023 police confirmed that a man was arrested after officers attended a property in the Holywood area on Saturday, September 23.

The property was reported to be the home of Mrs Anderson.

The PSNI said officers attended the address at around 6.30pm following a report of a domestic incident.

“Police were unable to gain access to the address and following contact, a man aged 63 was arrested for common assault and interviewed at Musgrave station on Sunday, September 24.

“He was released and a file will be forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service in due course,” the PSNI said.

In November last year, Justice Minister Naomi Long was asked whether there had been any conversations around the ombudsman returning to work, during questions for the Justice Minister in the Assembly.

“The Police Ombudsman has not returned to work at this point,” Ms Long told MLAs.

“The department has ongoing conversations with the ombudsman’s office to ensure that they have the requisite authorities to be able to continue with their work.

“We have no indication at this point in time as to a date of return for the ombudsman.”

Asked for an update on the police investigation today, a PSNI spokesperson replied: “There is an ongoing police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: “As there is an ongoing police investigation it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”