Police Ombudsman rejects investigation criticism

The police ombudsman has rejected a claim by the police federation that it was guilty of an “absymal” delay in completing a fatal incident investigation – following the death of Lisa Gow in 2018.

Ombudsman Marie Anderson, said: “The police are required to constantly assess and react to the threat posed by high speed pursuits, particularly in built up residential areas. Given that the threat level in this instance had been assessed as medium to high and that a police helicopter was in place observing the stolen vehicle, the police should have pulled back. That did not happen.

“This was a significant and complex investigation. However my office issued a file of evidence to the PPS on 31 January 2020, 21 months after the fatal accident. On 30 April 2021 the PPS directed that an expert’s opinion be sought by the Police Ombudsman.

"This was obtained on 16 September 2021. After careful consideration, the decision of the PPS not to prosecute, after seeking expert opinion, was received on 21 January 2022. That process which is beyond my control took two years.

“My staff worked at pace thereafter to issue a misconduct file in March of this year, with the PSNI response that misconduct proceedings would not take place being received in May 2022.

“PSNI final responses to other recommendations about pursuit procedure were received in August 2022 and this meant the final report was issued to the Chief Constable, Policing Board and Department of Justice on 29 September 2022 and the outcome of the findings were released today, 27 October 2022.”