A PSNI officer is to be prosecuted for conspiring to pervert the course of justice over an incident linked to police intervention at a Sean Graham bookies massacre memorial.
The incident, on February 5, 2021, happened at a service on the Ormeau Road to mark the anniversary of the February 1992 UFF attack in which five people were murdered and nine injured.
During the incident, Mark Sykes, who survived being shot in 1992 attack, was detained on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and later released without charge.
The Police Federation subsequently took a judicial review against the decision to discipline PSNI officers who attended. A High Court ruling found the action taken against the officers was ‘wrong and unlawful’.
In December 2021, the Public Prosecution Service said that a decision had been made not to prosecute any officers over allegations of assault.
However, the PPS have now taken the decision to prosecute one police officer for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
A PPS statement said: "The decision to prosecute this individual on indictment was taken after consideration of a file submitted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU).
"This ACU investigation examined events which formed part of a police investigation into an incident in the Ormeau Road area of south Belfast on 5th February 2021. It concerned an allegation that a police officer had been involved in the generation of a false threat report that was intended to support an application to the Court for a witness anonymity order.
"The decision to prosecute this individual issued today (18th December 2024) and all relevant parties were informed.
"The PPS has also issued a decision in relation to a separate police investigation file received in May 2022 reporting one civilian for an assault on police during the incident on the Ormeau Road on 5th February 2021. In that case it was determined that there is insufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction for any offence and therefore the Test for Prosecution is not met.
"The decision not to prosecute this individual issued today and all relevant parties were informed.
"A decision on the assault file had to be delayed pending an outcome to the ACU investigation. This was because the allegations under investigation by the ACU were relevant to the prospects of conviction on the assault file.
"All decision-making on both files was undertaken independently, impartially and in line with the Code for Prosecutors."
