Jon Boutcher picked as preferred candidate to be PSNI interim chief constable

Any appointment is subject to final agreement.

The Policing Board conducted a recruitment process earlier this week, with the recommendation of Mr Boutcher passed to the Department of Justice and Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris.

Mr Boutcher has recently been conducting an investigation into the activities of Stakeknife, the Army’s top agent in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

The Operation Kenova report is expected to be published in the coming months.

Last week the board, the oversight body for the PSNI, announced that it had begun recruitment processes for both a permanent and an interim chief constable.

The vacancy arose following the resignation of previous chief constable Simon Byrne following a number of controversies.

These included a significant data breach in which the personal details of all officers and staff were mistakenly published online and a critical High Court ruling which said that two junior officers had been unlawfully disciplined.

PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton is currently leading the force, although he is not at his desk following a medical procedure.

A Policing Board spokesperson said: “The board has agreed the appointment of an interim chief constable for the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

“The appointment is now subject to due diligence checks and ministerial approval.”

Mr Boutcher previously applied to become PSNI chief constable in 2019 but lost out on that occasion to Mr Byrne.

The job advertisement for the temporary role said the successful candidate will be in post for a minimum of three months, with the potential for further extension.

Expressions of interest were sought from chief constables and deputy chief constables, and anyone who has recently retired from these positions.

The salary for the job is £219,894 a year.

Applications for the permanent chief constable role will close on October 16.

The appointment panel will be made up of Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner; DUP member Joanne Bunting; Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly; the Alliance Party’s Nuala McAllister and independent board member Mukesh Sharma.

Northern Ireland’s new police chief will have a number of issues to deal with, including a budget crisis facing the force.

Senior officers have estimated that security and legal costs from the major data breach could potentially cost the force £240 million.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on a long-running legal claim over holiday pay which could see the force having to make back payments of tens of millions of pounds.