The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has recommended that a PSNI officer be dealt with under performance procedures after he failed to follow service guidance when seizing a patient's medically prescribed cannabis and did not properly handle or secure the property.

The PSNI's Professional Standards Department accepted the recommendations.

Following the case, the Ombudsman's Office reviewed comparable complaints and issued a policy recommendation for further training and guidance to help officers deal appropriately with legally prescribed cannabis.

The complaint related to a 2024 vehicle stop in which officers searched the complainant's car. A quantity of prescribed cannabis was taken, despite the complainant holding a valid prescription.

Investigators found the officer had not told the complainant about discrepancies he said he identified between dates on the prescription and the medical container, nor did he make enquiries to obtain the correct prescription as required by PSNI guidance.

A second strand of the complaint concerned the officer's property-handling practices, with investigators finding that accepted standards for seizing, securing and recording evidence were not properly followed. Other allegations by the complainant — including racial profiling, improper stopping procedures and the alleged theft of an amount of cannabis seized by officers — were not substantiated, either because of insufficient evidence or reasonable explanations from the officers involved.

Senior Investigations Officer, Martin McCaffery, said: 'Our investigation found that the police officer failed to follow PSNI guidance on the seizure of medically prescribed cannabis, and thereby potentially failed to act in accordance with the underlying legislation.

"The PSNI accepted our recommendations, and the matter was addressed through PSNI performance procedures.

"Our investigation also identified broader learning opportunities for the PSNI. We therefore also made a training recommendation aimed at improving police officer knowledge and decision making when dealing with legally prescribed medical cannabis.

"We recommended that further training and/or guidance should be created to address the gaps in knowledge in the PSNI on the issue of medically prescribed cannabis. This is aimed at ensuring that officers understand the legal framework and apply policy consistently. This will hopefully reduce the likelihood of similar incidents occurring in the future and to promote public confidence in policing."