No especially serious failings in PSNI probe of Storey funeral, inspectorate review finds
The funeral was one of the most controversial events to occur during the pandemic in the North. By Hayley Halpin Monday 17 May 2021, 2:27 PM 2 hours ago 3,503 Views 7 Comments
The funeral procession of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey
Image: Liam McBurney via PA Images
The funeral procession of senior Irish Republican and former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey
Image: Liam McBurney via PA Images
A POLICE INSPECTORATE REVIEW into the PSNI handling of the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey has found that police prioritised public security over enforcement of Covid-19 regulations without biasing one community over another.
He added: “The findings from the inspectorate have shown the sheer confusion and anomalies with the regulations.”
Responding to questions about criticism in the report about the keeping of records, Mr Byrne said: “It wasn’t that there were no records, we submitted over 500 documents to the inspectorate.
“I think the criticism is that on six occasions record-keeping should have been better. We are trained to complete an audit trail, we have to accept that and we will learn those lessons.
“It is a regret that we didn’t keep records to the standard that HMIC would have expected but the people involved in those conversations are adamant personally that that is what happened.”
BBC News
Chief Constable Simon Byrne says the PSNI has to police sensitively
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A report into how police handled the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey has found no bias.
A review was launched after it was announced prosecutions could not be brought against 24 Sinn Féin politicians.
It found there were grounds for criticising the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) approach but they were not especially serious failings . They do not approach the level at which censure of individual officers, or resignations, would be justified, the report found.
PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne welcomed the report and said the police would learn lessons but that he hoped we can move on now .
Stormont parties react to police watchdog report on PSNI handling of Bobby Storey funeral
It follows a report by Her Majesty s Inspectorate of Constabulary on the PSNI s handling of the large-scale funeral in West Belfast
Updated
The funeral of republican Bobby Storey in west Belfast last year (Image: Philip Magowan / PressEye)
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