Criticisms mount of Policing Board handling of false 'Sean' sectarian claims: TUV leader accuses MLAs of 'dereliction of duty'

Jim Allister added his voice to that of retired senior policeman Jon Burrows a day earlier, agreeing with him that the board "has shown itself to be unfit for purpose".

His comments are a veiled swipe at the DUP, which holds three seats on the board.

Sean (not his real name) is a medically-retired 45-year-old former member of the PSNI's Tactical Support Group (TSG).

He had claimed in a Belfast Telegraph interview in early March to have encountered a raft of examples of anti-Catholic bias in the unit – but, in last Saturday's edition of the News Letter, he admitted he had made them all up.

The matter had been raised at the Policing Board's April meeting and its May meeting by UUP member Alan Chambers.

At the latter meeting, the chief constable Jon Boutcher had told the board that he was satisfied Sean did not in fact suffer sectarianism but that he was a "thoroughly decent" man, then declined to go into more detail, saying: "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 Policing Board is made up of a mix of non-political members and MLAs.

There are three DUP ones, one UUP, two Alliance, one SDLP, and three from Sinn Fein.

In Thursday's News Letter, Mr Burrows, the former PSNI head of discipline who has campaigned to clear the TSG's name, said: "The board appeared to accept the unsatisfactory position this case was left in – riddled with its ambiguity and contradictory statements."

Now Mr Allister, the TUV leader, has said: "The board’s handling of this matter has been marked by inaction and a disturbing lack of curiosity.

"At a time when the reputations of serving officers were being publicly traduced, the body charged with holding the police to account simply looked the other way…

"It is a matter of deep concern that it was left to former officers, not those in oversight roles, to defend their colleagues and expose the truth.

“While 'Sean' has now admitted to fabricating his claims, and while the chief constable has confirmed there was no sectarianism within the unit, the damage was done – and the silence from key voices on the board was deafening. That was a dereliction of duty.

“Only one elected representative – Alan Chambers – challenged the narrative we all now know to be false publicly on the board.

"Others – particularly elected representatives from larger parties – must ask themselves why they remained silent while police officers were smeared."

DUP board member Trevor Clarke responded: "At the last board meeting, this issue was raised because the chair, Mukesh Sharma, asked a question directly of the chief constable.

"Notably, other queries beyond the initial question were closed down and no opportunity available for further interrogation of the matter. Anyone paying attention to the last public meeting of the board will be aware of that.

"Anyone familiar with the work of the Policing Board should also be aware that scrutiny is also not limited to those meetings which are open to the public.

"Whilst some appear to be acting as if this issue has now concluded and are engaged in some sort of post-mortem, the DUP is focused on the scrutiny which needs to continue, including of the chief constable but also the wider organisational survey which raises potentially significant concerns.

"Our focus will also remain on those who sought to perpetuate and exploit false claims of sectarianism rather than attack anyone who sought to uncover the truth and restore the reputation of officers that were wrongly accused."

The Policing Board itself said: "Questions were raised on this matter with the chief constable at both the April and May Board meetings which are a matter of public record."