Police in North rapped for losing evidence

Two police officers in the North have been disciplined after losing investigation evidence, the Policing Board heard today.

Another pair were given guidance on protecting records in unrelated incidents since 2001.

PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton was quizzed about the matter at a meeting of the board in Belfast.

He said: “There were four such cases, all of which are now closed and finished.

“Two of those individuals received discipline outcomes and two others (placed) under managing recommendations as to how better to protect such evidence.”

Details of the inquiries or the exact reprimand were not made available but Mr Leighton said there was no suggestion information had been mislaid deliberately.

“There were no cases involving wilful destruction… it has been impossible to understand how that happened,” he added.

The matter arose after Sinn Féin member Alex Maskey asked about serving or former officers who destroyed evidence.

Historical Enquiries Team head Dave Cox said in 98.5% of the cases he was probing the police documentation had been recovered. He is investigating over 3,000 unsolved conflict murders.

He added that there had been cases where the murder weapon no longer existed and said the force had tightened procedures for handling material considerably.