ACCUSATIONS A GRAVE DISSERVICE
Accusations 'a grave disservice'
By David Gordon
SIR Ronnie Flanagan today accuses the Ombudsman's report of inflicting "unnecessary grief and anxiety on the relatives of those murdered at Omagh and those injured". His rebuttal to Nuala O'Loan also states that her accusations have "done a grave disservice, and caused great hurt, to the PSNI and to individual officers within it". The Chief Constable completely rejects allegations of a lack of police co-operation with the Ombudsman's team. Sir Ronnie instead argues that the watchdog's investigators were given unprecedented access to systems, individuals and information. The police chiefs statement being publicly released today represents a summary of a much larger report.
Ms O'Loan has similarly only released a summary of her findings.
The full reports have so far only gone to Ulster Secretary John Reid and members of the Policing Board.
A dedicated team of police officers and civilians has been working on Sir Ronnie's report for more than a month.
"We have gone into such detail because we want to stand over every word of this document," a senior source said today.
By David Gordon
SIR Ronnie Flanagan today accuses the Ombudsman's report of inflicting "unnecessary grief and anxiety on the relatives of those murdered at Omagh and those injured". His rebuttal to Nuala O'Loan also states that her accusations have "done a grave disservice, and caused great hurt, to the PSNI and to individual officers within it". The Chief Constable completely rejects allegations of a lack of police co-operation with the Ombudsman's team. Sir Ronnie instead argues that the watchdog's investigators were given unprecedented access to systems, individuals and information. The police chiefs statement being publicly released today represents a summary of a much larger report.
Ms O'Loan has similarly only released a summary of her findings.
The full reports have so far only gone to Ulster Secretary John Reid and members of the Policing Board.
A dedicated team of police officers and civilians has been working on Sir Ronnie's report for more than a month.
"We have gone into such detail because we want to stand over every word of this document," a senior source said today.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0833
Published Date: 24-Jan-02
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