Ombudsman faced revolt over McCartney murder probe

Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan faced an open revolt from staff opposed to her decision to become involved in the Robert McCartney murder inquiry, it was revealed today.

They planned a vote of no confidence after she offered to take witness statements to break the wall of silence surrounding the killing outside a central Belfast bar.

Investigating officers in the watchdog organisation, outraged at being drawn into the hunt for IRA men who beat and stabbed the 33-year-old father of two to death in January last year, claimed the office’s independence had been compromised.

Security fears were also raised by some staff alarmed at providing assistance to the inquiry into a paramilitary-related murder.

At least three of the officers who objected to the move have since quit, while another has been suspended from duty on a separate case.

Their departure has provoked demands for an inquiry into the handling of staff affairs within the Ombudsman’s office.

A series of emails to senior members of staff revealed the level of anger felt by some members of Mrs O’Loan’s team.

One said: “Single-handedly she has managed to annihilate five years’ hard work by this office.

“She lectured us about impartiality and independence until our ears were bleeding and then goes out… and creates what is effectively a two-tier police service.”

Opposition to their involvement broke out among staff recruited in the North and those seconded from outside police forces.

Up to 25 staff members in one investigative team were called to a meeting in March last year soon after it was announced that the Ombudsman’s Office would be assisting by taking witness statements.

“There was a head count and we were confident a majority would endorse the vote of no confidence in Nuala O’Loan’s decision to involve us with the McCartney murder investigation,” one source disclosed.

It is understood the ballot was called off only after an appeal from a senior member of the team worried it would create difficulties for him with management.

Much of the anger and concern was based on the perceived risks of being linked to an inquiry focused on hardened IRA men suspected over the killing.

Although one man has been charged with the murder, the victim’s sisters believe at least a dozen others were involved in the attack and subsequent cover-up.

With intimidation rife in east Belfast’s staunchly republican Short Strand district, where members of the McCartney family lived until they moved out in disgust at their treatment, fears were expressed that the Ombudsman’s representatives would be targeted next.

One member of staff hit out at senior managers after they insisted their role posed no risk to the organisation.

“I find this an incredible assertion,” he wrote in another e-mail.

“Are these people (ie the IRA) who are intimidating the people of the Short Strand incapable of extending their threat to the members of this organisation, particularly the investigators who are the frontline representatives of the Police Ombudsman?

“Does the SMT (Senior Management Team) believe that we are untouchable?

“I believe that by unilaterally, and without consultation, taking the above decision the SMT have put my colleagues and me at risk.

“The Police Ombudsman/SMT has also put at risk the operational integrity of this organisation, in that I for one would not feel safe, as an employee of the Police Ombudsman, conducting inquiries in the Short Strand area, or indeed any high risk area.”

Another investigator contacted a team commander setting out a detailed opposition.

“Unless I have overlooked something, I believe this issue is not within the remit of PONI (Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland),” the staff member’s email said.

“I question why we, as investigators, are not permitted to disclose statements to police in other situations due to our ’independence’, however in this case an exception has been made.”

Only a handful of statements are understood to have been taken by the Ombudsman’s Office since the offer of assistance was made.

One of Mrs O’Loan’s fiercest critics demanded to know why the scale of opposition was not made public.

Ian Paisley Jr, a Democratic Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said: “There should be an inquiry into how the Ombudsman’s Office operates and manages staff.

“These investigators have considerable integrity, but it seems disgraceful that their e-mails have been disregarded.

“If Nuala O’Loan was transparent about her own operation, she would have said she was facing these difficulties.

“We have lost critical people, including a member of an internationally recognised police force and other services, because of this.”

A spokesman for Mrs O’Loan confirmed anxiety was expressed by some of her officers.

But he also stressed the Office had carried out similar work by offering to destroy DNA samples provided in an attempt to aid the inquiry into the murder of a new-born baby whose body was dumped near Belfast in 2002.

He said: “There was some concern among some staff about the Police Ombudsman’s involvement in this case.

“That was because it wasn’t the normal sort of work we carry out.

“But it was explained to those members of staff what we proposed to do and how we proposed to do it.

“We also reminded them that we had done something similar with the Baby Carrie incident and that seemed to resolve the matter.”