12/04/2002

More contenders for PSNI chief job than expected

It has been reported that a senior Metropolitan police officer investigating allegations of collusion between members of the security forces and loyalist paramilitaries is in the running for the top job in Northern Ireland’s new police service.

Hugh Orde, who has spent two-and-a-half years reinvestigating the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane, is a candidate for the chief constable’s job, sources close to the Policing Board confirmed on Friday.

However Mr Orde (43) and a deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, has so far refused to confirm or deny the news.

The Acting Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn announced earlier in the week that he would not be applying for the top post.

Mr Cramphorn said that it had become apparent to him that the Policing Board were looking for "a style and type of chief constable that he could never be".

Mr Cramphorn is currently Acting Chief Constable following the departure of Sir Ronnie Flanagan at the end of March.

Other candidates for the post include two senior Northern Ireland officers - Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan and Chris Albiston, who has just returned to the force from secondment in Kosovo.

Interviews for the job will take place in May. (AMcE)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

13 March 2024
Public Appeal After Third Confirmed Case Of Measles In Ireland
The Public Health Agency (PHA) has announced that it has been made aware of a third confirmed case of measles in the Republic of Ireland. It is understood that the case was confirmed in a resident of Ireland who had arrived back in the country from Abu Dhabi on Saturday 9 March 2024.
01 December 2006
Former PSNI Deputy Chief Constable loses cancer battle
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn has lost his battle with cancer. Mr Cramphorn, 50, was acting Chief Constable of the PSNI prior to being appointed as Chief Constable of West Yorkshire. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004.
10 April 2002
Cramphorn not applying for top police post
The Acting Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn has announced that he will not be applying for the top post as chief of the Northern Ireland Police Service. The deadline for the £130,000 a year post of chief constable expired on Wednesday April 10.
23 June 2016
Police Officers Disciplined For Failing To Tell Doctor About Woman's Head Injuries
Two police officers have been disciplined after they failed to let their colleagues and a police doctor know that a woman had sustained a head injury, a Police Ombudsman investigation has concluded. The woman died from bleeding to the brain on 24 February 2014, the day after she suffered the injury.
18 September 2002
Cramphorn to take up new police post in West Yorkshire
The Police Service of Northern Ireland's deputy chief constable, Colin Cramphorn, is to leave his post to take up the role of chief constable of West Yorkshire police. Mr Cramphorn, who has been deputy chief constable for four years, acted up as chief constable until the start of this month, when Hugh Orde took over.