PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has serious questions to answer over handling of commemoration fallout, says DUP

The DUP expects to meet with Mr Byrne today.

The party’s Policing Board member Mervyn Storey told the News Letter: “Questions need to be answered.”

Mr Byrne has apologised after a survivor of the 1992 Sean Graham bookmaker’s shooting was arrested at a commemoration event at the site of the loyalist massacre in Belfast.

Mark Sykes, who was shot several times in the 1992 massacre that claimed the lives of five people, was handcuffed and arrested in chaotic scenes captured on social media.

Mr Byrne announced on Saturday night that one officer has been suspended and another repositioned following Friday’s incident in Belfast’s Ormeau Road.

The actions have been taken pending the outcome of a police ombudsman investigation into the events.

While Sinn Fein has dismissed the action against the officers as “token gestures”, unionists have queried the haste of the suspension, with Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister accusing Mr Byrne of “pandering and grovelling” to Sinn Fein.

The deputy first minister, Sinn Fein MLA Michelle O’Neill, said the incident has created a nationalist crisis of confidence in policing.

The body representing rank and file officers, meanwhile, has said there are “real concerns” about “due process”.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland said the two officers “attended on instruction in respect of Covid legislation and should not be made scapegoats”.

Speaking to the News Letter yesterday, DUP MLA Mervyn Storey expressed similar concerns that the officers may have been made “scapegoats”.

“There will be a meeting tomorrow,” he said. “Questions need to be answered by the chief constable as to why he moved so quickly.

“There are at least two officers involved here and our concern is due process. Has the chief constable prejudiced a fair investigation into these two officers, and others?

“These two officers must not become the scapegoats to satisfy the demands of any political party.”

He continued: “The question that I think needs an answer – and will be put directly to the chief constable tomorrow – was he threatened by Sinn Fein?”

On Saturday, Mr Storey and his party colleagues on the Policing Board – MLAs Joanne Bunting, Trevor Clarke and Tom Buchanan – said in a statement: “We cannot have trial by social media and we cannot have rushed announcements to suit some political agenda. We would have thought the proper course of action would have been to await the outcome of the ombudsman inquiry.

“In addition, the chief constable needs to explain why two relatively inexperienced officers were despatched to this scene and if any other senior officers were present. The PSNI has enough trouble recruiting without a perception that officers have been scapegoated.

“There are questions for the Policing Board as well. Its statement was not an agreed position adopted by the board. They, like us, must be in possession of all the information before any conclusions can be reached.”

The DUP MLAs added: “As Policing Board members, we need to see the full video footage to ascertain the circumstances behind what appears to be uncharacteristically swift action by the police. We have requested an urgent meeting with the chief constable on Monday morning where we can ascertain the full facts.”

Ms O’Neill, meanwhile, said the approach adopted by officers was “crass, vulgar, insensitive and deliberate”.

The deputy first minister declined to say on the BBC Northern Ireland ‘Sunday Politics’ programme if she retained confidence in Mr Byrne.

She did say, however, that she was not calling on him to resign.

“If the chief constable wants to enjoy the confidence of the wider society then it is for him to demonstrate that he will hold people to account and let us all see that in action.

“He’s at the very top of the service, so if he’s going to bring about a new beginning to policing and if he’s going play his part then he must hold people to account and he must call out and challenge what appears to be an ethos and a culture within the PSNI to have a disproportionate approach to one section of society over and above the other.”

Ms O’Neill is to lead a party delegation to meet Mr Byrne today.

She contrasted the scenes on the Ormeau Road with police’s failure to make arrests when they encountered the loyalist gang.

“I think that the direct contrast in policing is laid bare for all to see and I think anybody who considers all those things in the round would understand that there certainly is a crisis of confidence in policing among the nationalist community,” she said.

“There appears to be a double standard within the policing service, there appears to be an ethos or culture that turns a blind eye to UDA, UVF thugs on the street, but at the same time a disproportionate attempt to target nationalist communities.”

Five people, including a 15-year-old boy, were murdered and several others injured in February 1992 when Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) gunmen opened fire in the Sean Graham bookmakers shop on the Ormeau Road in February 1992.

The chief constable has said he is unable to dearrest Mr Sykes as the matter now rests with prosecutors to decide whether prosecution is appropriate.

Police have said officers initially took action after witnessing a crowd of “between 30 to 40” attending an event.

Public gatherings of more than six people are currently prevented under Covid-19 lockdown regulations.