PSNI should review advice to officers over court appearances following judge's criticism of officer

The Police Ombudsman has recommended that the PSNI should review the advice it gives to officers about appearing at court, after a judge criticised a police officer's behaviour during an appeal hearing.

The officer (Officer A) was at court for an appeal hearing against a previous conviction by another PSNI officer (Officer B). He was accused by Officer B's defence team of acting in an aggressive and confrontational way during the hearing.

Officer A vehemently denied the allegations, stating that light-hearted exchanges had been misrepresented in order to discredit him and the prosecution case.

Officer B's legal team successfully applied to the trial judge for an abuse of process, citing what they described as Officer A's threatening attitude.

They claimed he been aggressive towards a witness for the defence, that he had eavesdropped on defence consultations and that he had made inappropriate comments to parties involved in the defence case.

In his ruling, the trial judge accepted the version of events described by the defence team.

In July 2008 the PSNI's Professional Standards Department referred the allegations against Officer A to the Police Ombudsman for independent investigation.

When interviewed, Officer A strongly denied any improper conduct, stating that his comments and actions had been taken out of context.

He did, though, concede that he had been naïve in speaking to members of the defence team. He said that some of his comments, although made in jest, were recounted without any reference to humour.

He added that he had learned a vital lesson and would act in a more businesslike manner in any similar future situations, with at least one other PSNI officer in attendance in order to corroborate what had occurred.

Having considered the evidence, the Police Ombudsman, Mr Al Hutchinson, found that Officer A had committed no criminal or misconduct offences, but added:

"His interactions with the defence team at Court may well have been as he alleges, light-hearted on occasions, non-confrontational and bearing no ill-will. However, the defence team did not share this view and used the issue to successfully argue for an abuse of process."

Mr Hutchinson recommended that the PSNI should review the guidance the Service provides to officers before attending court, emphasizing in particular the need for caution during interactions with the defence

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