Other News In Brief

53-Year-Old Man In Court Over Historical Sex Offences

A 53-year-old man has appeared in court on suspicion of committing historic sexual offences in Northern Ireland.

Officers from the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, assisted by Sussex Police, arrested the suspect at an address in Chichester on Tuesday, 08 May.

The man appeared at L'Derry Magistrates Court this morning, 09 May and has been remanded to appear again via videolink on Thursday, 31 May.

UUP Hits Out At Proposed Historical Investigations Unit

The Ulster Unionist Party has hit out at the proposed Historical Investigations Unit, labelling it a "grave miscalculation by the UK Government" and "at worse, a betrayal of the RUC and the Army".

The introduction of the 'Historical Investigations Unit', a major factor of the 2014 Stormont House agreement, would lead the creation of a new independent body to deal with killings during The Troubles.

However, the UUP's Justice Spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA said establishing the HIU "opens up a whole range of issues, not least with regard to accountability, structure and who will actually be in the HIU".

"The case load will focus on state forces and the need to comply with Article 2 obligations under the ECHR," he said.

"Only the State has records, so inevitably the HIU's focus will be on the Police and Army, because no equivalent records exist for the IRA or loyalist terrorist groups, who between them were responsible for 90 per cent of Troubles related killings.

"This suits those who wish to re-write the past and portray the State, the Police and the Army as the villains of the piece, but it does a massive dis-service to those who put on uniforms and bravely stood between the terrorists and those they sought to terrorise."

Continuing, Mr Beattie added there are further other issues relating to the HIU that are also of concern.

"With regard to information relating to investigations; the Republic of Ireland's Government will be able to redact prior to investigation while the UK Government will be - by law - expected to present all information for investigation," he said.

"Bizarrely, there is no mechanism to investigate Troubles related injuries – even in cases where they may have contributed to a premature death - only fatalities. Nor is there any appreciation of the context of the times, with the events being viewed through the prism of policing and justice from the safety and comfort of 2018."

Mr Beattie went further, stating the existence of the HIU "raises questions of the extent of trust and confidence in the PSNI".

He added: "If the PSNI is not trusted to investigate past issues, does this mean that the HIU cannot recruit PSNI members?

"Because if they can recruit PSNI officers, then why is the HIU to be a separate autonomous structure from the PSNI? And if they cannot recruit them, this surely casts grave doubts on their ability, credibility and reliability when it comes to investigating present and future terrorist crimes.

"In short, the Historical Inquiries Unit is at best a grave miscalculation by the UK Government, and at worse a betrayal of the RUC and the Army."

£130,000 Resurfacing Scheme To Begin In Cookstown

Work is to begin on a £130,000 resurfacing scheme on the U0708 Corvanaghan Road in Cookstown.

The scheme will take place along a 2.6km stretch of the road from its junction with Blackrock Road to its junction with Beltonanean Road. Overall, the project aims to improve the strength and surface quality of the route.

Work is scheduled to start on Monday, 13 May and completion is set for Saturday, 26 May.

For safety reasons, a road closure will be implemented for the duration of the project. Diversions will be in place.

(LM)