TUV Calls For PSNI Chief Constable To Step Down

TUV leader Jim Allister is calling for the Chief Constable of the PSNI to resign.

On Tuesday, a High Court ruled that two officers were unlawfully disciplined over an arrest made at a Troubles commemoration event.

The judge ruled that the decision was made to discipline the officers to allay any threat of Sinn Fein abandoning its support for policing in NI.

Mr Allister said: "This is a staggering indictment of the Chief Constable and a sobering insight into the politics of keep Sinn Fein happy at all costs, even at the cost of sacrificing your own officers.

"What many of us have long suspected has been laid bare by this case. The Chief Constable intervened at the diktat of Gerry Kelly and Sinn Fein to recklessly throw two young officers under the bus. Due process, proportionality and lawfulness all were secondary to keeping IRA/Sinn Fein on board. What they demanded they got, courtesy of the spineless Chief Constable.

"This ruling starkly illustrates how fatally compromised the PSNI is by the Belfast Agreement. Everything, even fair treatment of police officers, plays second fiddle to appeasing Republicans.

"However, para 29 of the judgement also raises serious questions for the Chair and CEO of the Policing Board.

"Later that day the Chief Constable met with the chair and the Chief Executive of the Policing Board. They too watched the relevant footage. The DCC later joined them. They too were deeply concerned and expressed the view that the PSNI needed to quickly examine the duty and status of the officer and move quickly to make the police position clear in the public domain. The public interest and need to act soon were emphasised to the DCC as the appropriate authority. The DCC expressed the view at that point there was a case to re-position the officers. A conversation about suspension then followed.

"Why was the Chair and CEO of the Policing Board involved in the unlawful treatment of these officers? How is that the function of an oversight body, and why were they ganging up to crucify the young officers?”