'Clearing protest would've meant disproportionate force': PSNI defends Garvaghy Road actions after calls for chief constable to quit and allegations of two-tier policing
The PSNI has sought to defend its actions, after calls for senior officers to resign and allegations of two-tier policing over the Garvaghy Road stand-off.
In the wake of 35 Orangemen being blocked from completing their approved and heavily restricted march through Portadown on Sunday morning by an unnotified protest, the local lodge called for both chief constable Jon Boutcher and assistant chief constable Ryan Henderson to go.
But Mr Henderson insisted that clearing the protest would have meant the use of “disproportionate” police force, and could have sparked serious disorder.
Members of the Portadown district lodge were adamant the senior officers need to quit. They accused Mr Boutcher of “treat[ing] this community with disdain” and not protecting their rights, stating: “The PSNI have failed to uphold the law. They have capitulated to Sinn Fein and nationalism.”
Meanwhile the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland raised the spectre of two-tier policing, stating: “If the safety of our 35 brethren cannot be guaranteed, then the PSNI needs to make that clear and admit that they are unable to police the potential actions of those taking part in the protest.
“Such a failure has echoes of the high-profile paramilitary funeral during Covid and will do little to dispel the view that there are different policing approaches and decisions.”
A Grand Lodge spokesman added there is “no shortage of evidence" of people being involved in the unnotified protest of around 1,000 residents who blocked Garvaghy Road, stating: “We therefore anticipate a swift response which holds lawbreakers to account for their actions.”
In a statement this afternoon, Mr Henderson said the force was “unable to allow” the “lawful right” of the Portadown lodge to complete their permitted parade “because of an unlawful and unnotified protest”.
Maintaining the “overall aim” of the PSNI on Sunday was “to keep people safe”, the assistant chief constable stated: “Our assessment was that to remove an estimated 1,000 people from the Garvaghy Road, including women, children and older people, would have required such a significant use of force that public safety would have been significantly jeopardised, people seriously hurt and disorder inevitable.
“In all of those circumstances, use of police force would have been disproportionate.”
Officers were gathering evidence throughout the day, he added, which is now being checked by a “dedicated enquiry team”.
He said: “Anyone who has broken the law will be investigated. As always these matters will be reported to the Public Prosecution Service, who will independently determine if there is sufficient evidence and if it is in the public interest to prosecute.”
Meanwhile the head of a major policing body backed the force’s actions, insisting that neither senior officers nor its rank and file should be “scapegoated” over what amounted to “a near-impossible situation”.
Stating that the actions of Mr Boutcher and his senior colleagues were “exemplary and certainly beyond reproach”, the chair of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, Liam Kelly, said: “At the heart of any debate over lawful and unlawful protests is the need to prevent violence and injury.
“The bottom line is no one was hurt. There was no rioting; no officers or protesters or Orange Order members sustained injury. That is success in my book.
“From a policing perspective, it was a job well done.”