Puzzlement voiced over allegations of police sectarianism by former officer 'Sean'

​Jon Burrows was reacting to the chief constable’s comments to the Policing Board this week concerning allegations from a former riot squad (Tactical Support Group) member known as ‘Sean’.

Sean had claimed that he encountered sectarianism in the force, though scores of his former colleagues have since spoken out against his allegations, which were originally aired in a newspaper.

Chief constable Jon Boutcher also told the Policing Board that “there is no legal case or ongoing investigation” concerning the sectarianism claims. It had previously been reported that Sean was suing the force for damages.

Having now met Sean, Mr Boutcher said: “I've no concerns that the blacks [his TSG unit], the officers, his colleagues, acted in a sectarian way towards him.”

Mr Burrows said: "The chief constable’s statement is to be welcomed on one hand because he stated clearly that Sean had dropped his legal claim and that he had satisfied himself that there was no sectarian behaviour whatsoever in this TSG.”

But he added there remains a “puzzling” aspect – namely, the fact Sean’s lawyer has been quoted as indicating that his client stands by his claims, yet that there had been “no evidence of any overt sectarianism”; rather, it had been “very much nuanced and understated”.

Mr Burrows said “this makes no sense because Sean had alleged extremely blatant overt sectarianism”, including use of the term “fenian b******s”.

"The retired TSG officers and myself will not rest until this matter is dealt with properly and will complete clarity,” he concluded.

– LATEST TWIST CAME AT POLICING BOARD –

Chief constable Boucher was present at the Policing Board on Thursday.

He revealed that he has now met the officer at the centre of the story - 'Sean' - to discuss his claims, which were first aired in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, published on March 8.

Sean was reported as saying that people had said "who the f**k does he think he is coming in with ash on his head?" on Ash Wednesday, and that "I was hearing boys saying ‘Fenian b******s, who do they think they are?’".

After the article was published, scores of retired officers who served in the same unit then came forward to voice "our utter rejection that any sectarian or bullying behaviour occurred in our team".

At April's meeting of the Policing Board, chief constable Boutcher said the accusations from Sean had been investigated "and there was no finding of any wrongdoing".

Now, at the May meeting of the Policing Board, the chief constable said he has met Sean directly, alongside Sean's solicitor. "It was a really positive meeting. He is a decent, decent man, and he was an exemplary police officer," said the chief constable.

"I'm not going to go into details of the meeting but what I want to assure this board is I am absolutely satisfied that the concerns that you may have had from the article I've no concerns that the blacks [the nickname for the unit concerned], the officers, his colleagues, acted in a sectarian way towards him.

"I've also met with the blacks team who were concerned and hurt by what had been said. And actually were very concerned about Sean, as an officer and ex-colleague who some of them are still very much in touch with and friends.

"I'm reassured by a number of measures we've taken, not least of which me going to speak to the inspector sergeants and all of the team, that there has not been sectarianism towards anybody on that team."

Although it had been reported that Sean was pursuing damages from the police, the chief constable further told the meeting "there is no legal case or ongoing investigation".

He went on to stress twice more that Sean is "thoroughly decent", and added that "I cannot explain the article in the newspaper".

Asked directly if Sean had "disassociated himself" from the allegations made in the newspaper article, Mr Boutcher said: "It was a private meeting, I'm not going to discuss it any further than I already have in public. And I'm going to draw a line under it."

The Belfast Telegraph has since quoted Sean's lawyer, Kevin Winters of KRW Law, as saying that Sean does still "stand by every word" of his accusations.

Mr Winters was quoted as saying that the sectarianism he faced was "nuanced" and "understated".