THE past week has been dominated by debate and headlines over the fall-out from the High Court decision that two police officers – who had arrested a victim of the 1992 Sean Graham's Bookmakers Massacre during a commemoration for the five people who died – were suspended after coming under political pressure from Sinn Féin.

On Monday Chief Constable Simon Byrne eventually resigned after both political and rank and file pressure from within the PSNI over his role in the affair.

However, with all the coverage over recent days focusing on the suspended officers who made the arrest at the 2021 commemoration on the Ormeau Road – and the subsequent fate of the Chief Constable – the families of the bookies' massacre victims say they have been completely ignored. And not for the first time.

Tommy Duffin, whose father Jack Duffin was one of those killed on 5 February 1992, said the PSNI were aware of the commemoration and knew it was a family event to remember loved ones.

Tommy said: “It’s a PSNI farce and a sideshow to distract away from the fact that they were there disrupting a commemoration that had been going on for 29 years and the PSNI were aware it was going on.

“It was announced it would take place on social media a few days before asking for families to please abide by the law in regard to Covid restrictions and for only a couple of family members to come, so it was even smaller than in previous years when it would spill out onto the road. There were only 30-35 people max at it and all socially distanced."

Tommy said during the entire process involving the conduct of the two suspended officers, the families were not consulted once to give their views on what happened.

“During the police enquiry they didn’t ask anyone who was there for their video evidence of how the police approached the commemoration. I stood and watched them arrive, they came over, went back to their car and then came back again and stood at the door at Sean Graham’s. They waited until we were laying flowers to come over and demand who were the organisers and that’s where it all kicked off."

Tommy continued: “We, the families have not been approached once. Our solicitors haven’t been contacted, even after the officers were suspended. We haven’t been contacted. The families have once again been ignored, put to the bottom of the pile and forgotten about. Families weren’t taken into consideration on the day or after the event and all we have heard is about the police officers getting suspended."

Billy McManus' father William McManus was also one of those who was murdered in the massacre carried out by the UFF and said the police could have handled the event very differently.

“To them, victims don’t matter. I was there when Mark Sykes was arrested. It was socially distanced and family members only and it was being streamed live for those who couldn’t be there because of Covid. It could have been dealt with very differently.

“The police walked up to myself and Mark Sykes and demanded to know who was the organiser and I said, there are no organisers, this is a family event. All we were doing was laying flowers for our loved ones.

“There’s a hidden agenda behind what happened on that day and after the last couple of weeks the families haven’t been mentioned once, nor has Mark Sykes, who is a victim himself and was shot five times."