PSNI chief gets apology over expenses claim

The North’s Police Chief Hugh Orde today received a formal apology from the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday over stories which wrongly alleged he had inappropriately claimed expenses.

The PSNI Chief Constable received his apology in the High Court in Belfast as part of a settlement after he sued associated newspapers.

A lawyer representing the newspaper group said part of the settlement involved the reading of the statement in open court.

The statement said: “Articles published by the Mail on Sunday on 2 December 2007 and the Daily Mail on 7 December 2007 may have suggested Sir Hugh Orde, Chief Constable of Northern Ireland, had inappropriately claimed expenses.”

It said Mr Orde had instigated an independent audit of his expenses which found “no impropriety on his behalf”.

It added: “We apologise for any misunderstanding and a donation will be made to a charity of his choice”.

The size of the charitable donation was not disclosed.

Mr Orde will also have his legal costs paid by the newspaper.

It was one of a number of actions launched against newspapers by the Chief Constable over allegations about his claiming of expenses.

Mr Orde was not in court today to hear the apology in person.