North police watchdog to step down next year

The North’s crisis-hit Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson will leave the job next year, he told a Stormont committee today.

He has been under pressure after the latest in a series of damning reports said he had lost the trust of senior colleagues and that his watchdog organisation was divided and dysfunctional.

The former Canadian police commander has faced calls for his immediate resignation, but he told the Assembly’s Justice Committee he wanted to stay on until next June to implement reforms.

He said the timescale, which would see him leave earlier than his planned retirement date of December 2012, would also allow time for a replacement to be recruited.

His move comes after the hard-hitting review by the Criminal Justice Inspection group said ombudsman reports into some of the most controversial murders of the Troubles had seen criticism of the police removed.

But Mr Hutchinson said others had sought to attack him and the work of his office.