DPP HAS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER - NESBITT

Policing Board NI member Mike Nesbitt MLA has described as extraordinary the revelation that a private letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Chief Constable was copied to the Policing Board in error.

DPP Stephen Herron wrote to Simon Byrne on 2 April 2021 in what Mike Nesbitt described as a “scathing” criticism of the PSNI’s stance regarding prosecutions surrounding the Bobby Storey funeral in June 2020. The four-page letter claimed the PSNI should not have made public their recommendation that individuals be prosecuted. It went on to allege the PSNI did not inform the PPS that they were making that recommendation and failed to offer the PPS appropriate advance notice of their position. Mr Herron went on to suggest some might interpret the PSNI’s actions as being “for the optics”.

It now emerges Mr Herron meant the letter to be sent to the Chief Constable only and the copy forwarded to the Policing Board was emailed in error.

Mike Nesbitt said:

“This is extraordinary stuff. Mr Herron puts it down to an administrative error, but I think the issue goes deeper than that. There is a question about the DPP’s judgement in committing his thoughts to paper in the manner in which he did. To me, the tone and language read as heavily critical and reflect a broken relationship between two key organisations in the criminal justice system.

“I have asked my colleague, Doug Beattie MLA to raise the matter with the Chair of the Justice Committee, in the expectation the Committee will invite Mr Herron to join them. There are several issues to discuss, including the attempt last week to prosecute soldiers for legacy cases, and the decision to review the PPS’s original conclusion that they were not going to prosecute attendees at Mr Storey’s funeral.”

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