A police officer who admitted making "a mistake" in a statement presented to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) has received an adult caution after appearing at court charged with Misconduct in a Public Office.
On 17 July 2007 the officer (Officer A) had prepared the statement for the PPS in relation to an allegation that two minors had been involved in a common assault.
In it the officer stated that on 24 April 2007 she had gone to the home of the mother (Woman A) of one of the two minors, where she spoke to the two young people about the allegations against them.
She recorded in the statement that one of the minors had admitted kicking and pushing the injured party, while the other denied taking part but admitted having been there when it happened.
The statement was part of a file submitted to the PPS, which decided on the basis of the evidence that one of the minors should be prosecuted for common assault and that the other should receive an informal warning for the same offence.
However, on 10 August 2007, when Woman A received the summons and accompanying documents she contacted the PPS to register a complaint that her son had not been present when Officer A called on 24 April 2007, as the officer had alleged in her statement.
The PPS sought clarification from Officer A, who confirmed that her statement was incorrect and that she had never spoken to Woman A's son. The PPS subsequently withdrew the charge against him and later contacted Officer A's supervisor about the inaccuracy of her statement.
When the supervisor asked Officer A about this, she again confirmed that her statement was incorrect. The PPS then referred the matter to the Police Ombudsman's Office for independent investigation.
When Police Ombudsman investigators interviewed Officer A under criminal caution, she admitted that she had never spoken to Woman A's son and said her recollection of events had not been completely clear when she made her statement.
She added, however, that there had been no deliberate attempt to mislead justice, and said it had simply been a mistake.
The PPS subsequently decided that Officer A should be prosecuted and she appeared at court on 28 June 2010 charged with the offence of Misconduct in a Public Office.
On 30 June 2010 the trial judge directed that an appropriate form of disposal would be for Officer A to accept an adult caution in respect of the offence. The caution was administered on 21 July 2010.
The Police Ombudsman subsequently considered the case for residual misconduct matters and recommended that the officer should be the subject of formal misconduct proceedings. This has since been acted upon by the PSNI.