23/01/2002

Flanagan to appoint independent adviser on Omagh investigation

PSNI Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan is set to appoint a senior Merseyside police officer to act as an independent adviser to the PSNI’s Omagh bomb investigation.

Sir Ronnie will make the appointment to “quality assure” the current investigation and it represents the first stage of his official response to the damning report published by the Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan last December.

Sir Ronnie has prepared two documents to rebut what he described as the “factual inaccuracies and unwarranted assumptions” he believes are contained in Ms O'Loan's report.

The first of the Chief Constable's publications, at 87 pages, is to be unveiled in Omagh on Thursday, January 24. Sir Ronnie is then expected to follow that up with the announcement of external investigator’s appointment.

The appointment is a compromise over one of the six main recommendations made by the Police Ombudsman, who had called for an independent inquiry team to take over the Omagh investigation.

The second 104-page document will directly answer the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s report. The Policing Board and the Secretary of State John Reid have already received copies of the Chief Constables report.

Sir Ronnie said on Wednesday, January 23, that the PSNI had "nothing to hide about its conduct of the Omagh investigation and is more than ready to take any steps to reassure the public". (GMcG)

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