Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland: PSNI and West Midlands Police decline to say when 17 month probe linked to Marie Anderson might end

In yesterday's News Letter, retired senior PSNI officer Jon Burrows, who was head of PSNI discipline, called for more transparency about the investigation into an alleged domestic incident at a Holywood address linked to Ms Anderson in September 2023.

He said there continues to be “a vagueness about who or what is still being investigated”; however, the PSNI and West Midlands Police, which is also involved, said it would be inappropriate to comment due to an ongoing investigation.

Yesterday, some 16 months after the original incident, the News Letter asked West Midlands Police and the PSNI if they could at least estimate when the 2023 investigation – originally predicted to take weeks – might be completed.

Again, both forces said it would be inappropriate to comment due to an ongoing investigation.

During the original 2023 incident police arrested a man, aged 63, for common assault. He later accepted a caution.

Several weeks after the alleged incident, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher brought in West Midlands Police “to provide independence” on further inquiries. At the time, Mr Boutcher said the investigation should last “weeks not months”.

However in August 2024, Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd told the Policing Board that in light of delays “there’s a danger that if we don’t give some assurance around the effectiveness of the investigation that speculation will grow”.