Investigation into disabled police charity ends

The Disabled Police Officers’ Association Northern Ireland was subject to an inquiry by the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland, beginning in 2014,

The commission is now satisfied that the charity “has been restored to full, good governance” and it has shut its inquiry accordingly.

It has now published an interim report as opposed to a full one; something which the commission described as an “unusual measure”.

A more detailed report will be published after “the conclusion of some ongoing litigation matters” (which it did not specify.

The interim report notes that the charity was founded in 1983 as a “support group whereby officers of the police service (and its reserve) who had sustained serious injury on duty could meet and share their experiences”.

The probe was sparked by concerns over “the perceived mismanagement of charity monies”, among other things.

The commission “received information [from the charity] that was contradictory, incomplete, of questioned provenance or with documents or parts omitted entirely”.

It found information which “supported allegations of potential misconduct and mismanagement within the charity ... additionally, it appeared that, in certain instances, the commission had been provided with false and misleading information”.

In conclusion, the report – published on Monday – said: “The commission acknowledges that the trustees have taken steps to implement extensive changes to improve the governance of the charity.”

A copy of the interim report can be accessed by clicking here.