Police probing domestic incident linked to Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson send file to Public Prosecution Service
There have been calls for transparency over the police investigation into a domestic incident linked to Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson.
The former Ulster Unionist Party Doug Beattie MLA reacted to the fact that a file has been sent to the Public Prosecution Service, saying that the probe had gone on too long.
The news that someone potentially perverted the course of justice and misconduct in public office is linked to a police investigation into an alleged domestic incident at an address believed to be linked to Ms Anderson. The investigation began after police were called to a Holywood address in September 2023.
The PSNI said at the time that they “were unable to gain access to the address and, following contact, a man aged 63 was arrested for common assault and interviewed at Musgrave station" on September 24, 2023. A file was subsequently sent to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) and the man accepted a caution for common assault a year later – in September 2024.
West Midlands Police was one of three UK police forces looking into the incident, the others being Greater Manchester Police and the PSNI. After completing its investigation into the case, it is understood West Midlands Police sent a file to the PPS on Tuesday June 10.
A PPS spokeswoman said on Tuesday: “We received an investigation file today reporting one individual for potential offences of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office following a police investigation arising from an incident in Holywood, Co Down, in September 2023. All the available evidence in the investigation file will be carefully considered by a senior public prosecutor and the Test for Prosecution applied. A decision will issue in due course. All PPS decision-making is independent, impartial and in line with the Code for Prosecutors.”
Mr Beattie said that anyone committing offences of perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office would be a serious issue - and may require suspension. "The Public Prosecution Service must be diligent in deciding if it is in the public interest to bring charges for openness and transparency," he said. "If anyone, who may be linked to the Police Ombudsman’s Office, is implicated in this offence or under investigation, they must be suspended from their role in the ombudsman’s office. "The present investigation into the Police Ombudsman has gone on too long and has led to public confidence in the office to be undermined. It is important the Justice Minister takes action to restore that confidence."
From the start of the case, the PSNI asked West Midlands Police to examine aspects of the case, to avoid any conflict of interest. In March, Greater Manchester Police revealed that they had also been assisting West Midlands Police from the outset. No explanation has been given as to why a third police force was involved.
It was revealed in June 2024 that Ms Anderson was on sick leave. She returned to work in January this year. Speaking in March, retired senior PSNI officer Jon Burrows, ex- head of PSNI Discipline Branch, was concerned by the length of time the investigation was taking. News of a third police force’s involvement was “unexpected” he said, as it normally only happens “in complex cases or ones that cross jurisdictions”. He has never known such delay or multi-force investigation into an “unspecified domestic related incident” he said.