Letter: Legal appeal could ​still emerge to help get the Sinn Fein appeasement process back on track

A letter from Dr Paul Kingsley:
Simon Byrne resigned as chief constable of the PSNI on Monday but it might be the case, writes Dr Paul Kingsley, that senior police officers will appeal last week's ruling of Justice Scoffield when the disciplining of two officers following an arrest at a Troubles memorial event in Belfast in 2021 was held to be unlawfulSimon Byrne resigned as chief constable of the PSNI on Monday but it might be the case, writes Dr Paul Kingsley, that senior police officers will appeal last week's ruling of Justice Scoffield when the disciplining of two officers following an arrest at a Troubles memorial event in Belfast in 2021 was held to be unlawful
Simon Byrne resigned as chief constable of the PSNI on Monday but it might be the case, writes Dr Paul Kingsley, that senior police officers will appeal last week's ruling of Justice Scoffield when the disciplining of two officers following an arrest at a Troubles memorial event in Belfast in 2021 was held to be unlawful
By Letters
Published 6th Sep 2023, 00:01 BST

The chief constable has resigned.

However, it would be surprising if senior police officers do not appeal the ruling of Mr Justice Scoffield about their treatment of the two police officers at the Ormeau Road demonstration in February 2021.

Initially Simon Byrne accepted that there was “a legal error in the way the public interest test was applied in deciding to suspend one officer and reposition another, rendering the action unlawful”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I am sure that by now the great and the good have pointed out to his senior colleagues that it would be desirable if public officials were still allowed to argue that it was not in the public interest to prosecute Sinn Fein members and their friends. Any change could endanger the appeasement process.

The public interest loophole must be as broad as possible to meet what I believe to be the key objective of the Belfast/St Andrews Agreements – “Keep Sinn Fein happy in order to keep the IRA quiet”.

It would be difficult to find a senior public official who does not realise this.

The great and the good are hoping that this is just a single judge who is off-message, and that an appeal will get the appeasement process back on track.

Dr Paul Kingsley

Belfast BT4

Related topics:Simon ByrneSinn FeinIRABelfast