Maurice McCabe breaks down in witness box

At 3.25pm yesterday Sgt Maurice McCabe broke down. He had been giving evidence since 10.12am with an hour break. For much of the day he was brought through the jagged and often painful odyssey which has dominated his life for over a decade.

His evidence began with the completely discredited allegation from the daughter of a colleague in 2006 that he had inappropriately touched her eight years earlier. McCabe had been involved in the disciplining of the girl’s father.

He was completely exonerated of the allegation, but questions remain over how the fallout from the whole matter was handled.