NESBITT CALLS ON DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO CONDUCT FRESH INQUIRY INTO PSNI HANDLING OF MR STOREY’S FUNERAL

Ulster Unionist MLA Mike Nesbitt is calling on Justice Minister, Naomi Long MLA, to commission a fresh inquiry into the PSNI’s handling of the funeral of Mr Bobby Storey on 30th June 2020.

Mike Nesbitt, who represents the Ulster Unionist Party on the Policing Board of Northern Ireland, says the report published on Monday by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) simply will not cut it as an appropriate and complete review of events.

Mike Nesbitt said:

“The HMIC report is incomplete, inconclusive and from what we have heard since publication, inaccurate. It is certainly not the ‘comprehensive’ review the Justice Minister described it as when she welcomed its publication on Monday.

“Naomi Long commissioned this report. It now falls to her to fix its shortcomings. There are serious questions to be asked about policy, not least the lack of appropriate record keeping by the PSNI regarding their communications with the funeral organisers.

“We have already seen the disastrous outworkings of a culture of lax record keeping in the RHI debacle. I recall Sir Patrick Coghlin’s stinging criticism of ‘government by Post-It note’.

“The Justice Minister cannot hide behind the excuse that these are operational matters. They are matters of policy and culture. They are also impacting very negatively on public perception and confidence in the criminal justice system.

“This is core business for the Justice Minister`s Department. It is time for Naomi Long to step up. It is her duty to do so and failure will let down both the rank and file of the PSNI and the community they serve and protect.”

News Archives