A POLICE officer who arrested and handcuffed a man at an event marking a Troubles massacre has been found to have acted without ‘sensitivity’.
The PSNI officer was policing a gathering held to mark the 29th anniversary of the Sean Graham Bookmakers shootings in Belfast.
On February 5, 1992, UDA gunmen targeted the bookmakers, firing indiscriminately on those inside.
They killed five Catholics and seriously injured seven other people.
The atrocity was being commemorated on February 5, 2021, during the pandemic, at an event held outside the bookmakers in Ormeau Road.
Two police officers who were policing the gathering had been instructed by their supervising inspector to "get footage, but treat with sensitivity".
Both officers were new to the PSNI and still serving in their probationary period.
During the commemoration Mark Sykes, a survivor of the attack, was arrested by one of the officers and placed in handcuffs.
He was released 90 minutes later and went on to make a complaint to the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland over the incident.
The scene of the massacre on Ormeau Road in 1992This week Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson released her report revealing the findings of her investigation – which “centred on allegations concerning the insensitivity of police attending the area during the commemoration, Mr Sykes’ alleged wrongful arrest and the prolonged, unnecessary use of handcuffs”, her office confirmed.
“Given the restrictions on gatherings which were in place under the Covid Regulations at the time, I am satisfied that there was reasonable justification for PSNI to have attended the scene,” Ms Anderson said as the findings were released.
“However, after examination of all relevant evidence, including radio transmissions, body worn video and other video footage of the incident, I was of the view that the arresting police officer had not responded to the unfolding events in line with an order to treat the gathering with sensitivity.”
The arresting officer was the subject of police disciplinary proceedings, the report confirms, but he went on to win an appeal against the outcome and subsequently no action was taken against him.
The Ombudsman made three recommendations to the PSNI “to improve aspects of operational policing”.
The first calls on the police force to “develop a system to ensure that they are aware of Troubles-related anniversaries or commemorations”.
The second called for better resources for local policing teams, while the final recommendation related to the need for “improvements in public order training for new officers and, in particular, case law relevant to arrests”.
The PSNI has accepted the findings of the report.
“It is important to say that, first and foremost, I recognise the continuing distress being felt by all of the families of those killed and injured at Sean Graham Bookmakers on February 5, 1992 and want to acknowledge the pain and suffering that they all continue to feel,” PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said.
“The commemoration event in 2021 took place during COVID-19 when restrictions on gatherings were constantly changing,” he added.
“Following her investigation, the Ombudsman submitted a file to the Public Prosecution Service and they directed no prosecution on any of the officers involved.
“Our internal processes have also concluded with no action required for the officers.
“As an organisation we are committed to learning from this case and have accepted the recommendations made by the Ombudsman.
“We have already commenced updating our training, policy and procedures to ensure that incidents of a similar nature do not occur again.”
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