Orde defends handling of McCartney murder investigation

THE North’s most senior policeman Hugh Orde yesterday hit back at claims that the investigation into the murder of Belfast father of two Robert McCartney is being manipulated to damage Sinn Féin.

As Mr McCartney’s five sisters and his partner were in Washington to present a dossier on his murder to President George W Bush at the White House, Chief Constable Hugh Orde defended his officers’ handling of the probe.

Sinn Féin’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness has accused police of turning away two key witnesses who had offered themselves for interview about the attack on Mr McCartney, and serious wounding of his friend Brendan Devine, outside a bar in Belfast city centre on January 30.