Chief Constable to address Policing Board regarding failings in Sean Graham Massacre investigation

By Q Radio News

The Policing Board's meeting with the Chief Constable later to discuss the PSNI's failure to disclose important information about a notorious loyalist shooting in Belfast.

The discovery opened new lines of enquiry into the Sean Graham bookies massacre on the Ormeau Road where 5 people were killed in 1992.

George Hamilton will give a detailed report on the issue.

The SDLP's Dolores Kelly, who's a member of the board - says they will examine measures taken by police in legacy cases: 

Mrs Kelly commented: “The SDLP have made it very clear to the PSNI the reputational harm that has come from this recent scandal and the risk it poses to further damaging public confidence in policing here.

This incident also makes it very difficult to believe that there is not a hidden dead hand of the security services in the organisation.

“The fact that this wasn’t an isolated incident, some will see this as a further attack on the office of the Police Ombudsman, insofar as the Ombudsman wanted to give a number of reports before the end of his tenure and failure by the PSNI to disclose all available information will delay that.

“The PSNI agreed that the only way to allay the public concern is an independent review, whether established by the Policing Board or the Department of Justice, they made it clear that they would welcome an intervention."

“The legacy of the past continues to poison the policing of today. Therefore, critical decisions have to be made sooner rather than later around the establishment of the HIU, the proper resourcing of it and full powers of investigation to be vested in the director, with no no-go areas.”