Published Date: 20.12.2016

The Police Ombudsman has rejected a complaint that police provided inaccurate information to Social Services which suggested that a man had a history of domestic violence.

The information was provided by police to assist Social Services who were considering access arrangements in relation to the man’s child.

The man alleged that the police report was unfair in that it referred to unsubstantiated allegations made against him over a number of years.

He pointed out that he had not been convicted of any wrongdoing in relation to any of the incidents, and strongly contested the accounts referred to in the police report.

While he accepted that he had once been arrested, he said he had not been prosecuted in relation to the incident.

He added that two other incidents described in the police report had not happened as they had been described to police, and no action had been taken against him in relation to either.

Nevertheless, even though he denied the allegations and no action had been taken against him, he said the police report had led Social Services to conclude that his relationships had featured domestic violence.

A Police Ombudsman investigator pointed out that he could not comment on any decision reached by Social Services.

However, he noted that the man had given police permission to share information with Social Services in relation to any history of domestic violence.

The investigator cross-referenced each of the incidents referred to in the police report with the relevant police records, and found the report to have provided an accurate summary of those records.

He concluded that there was no evidence of misconduct by any police officer. Proper procedures for sharing information with Social Services had been followed, and the report was an accurate description of information held about calls which had been made to police.