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23/01/2003
Ombudsman to probe Lowry dismissal allegations
The Policing Board has confirmed that allegations surrounding the dismissal of Special Branch head Bill Lowry will be investigated by the Police Ombudsman.
Bill Lowry, who retired from his post as the head of Special Branch in Belfast last November, has claimed that he was ousted from his job by MI5 after a high-profile raid on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices last year. Mr Lowry has claimed he was sacrificed to assuage the anger felt in republican circles following the raids.
North Belfast Unionist assembly member Fred Cobain said an investigation must be carried out on allegations that went "right to the very heart of policing in Northern Ireland".
He added: "Such an investigation must be meticulous and wide ranging if the allegation are to be fully explored.
"This is the only way to restore public confidence on what is a highly complex matter and I would appeal to those who have been making pre-judgments to let the matter rest with the Police Ombudsman until she makes her findings public."
As chief superintendent of the Special Branch, Mr Lowry oversaw the raids on Stormont amid suspicions that an IRA spy-ring was operating in the NIO. The political fallout from the raids and subsequent arrests ultimately precipitated the suspension of the assembly on October 14.
In an interview with a leading English newspaper, Mr Lowry, 55, said he retired in November 2001 after he was "threatened with disciplinary action and a transfer to another section".
The Police Ombudsman was first approached at the beginning of this month to investigate the claims. However the Ombudsman returned the request as it had not been issued under the correct clause of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Act 1998. It appears that it is now the case.
(GMcG)
Bill Lowry, who retired from his post as the head of Special Branch in Belfast last November, has claimed that he was ousted from his job by MI5 after a high-profile raid on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices last year. Mr Lowry has claimed he was sacrificed to assuage the anger felt in republican circles following the raids.
North Belfast Unionist assembly member Fred Cobain said an investigation must be carried out on allegations that went "right to the very heart of policing in Northern Ireland".
He added: "Such an investigation must be meticulous and wide ranging if the allegation are to be fully explored.
"This is the only way to restore public confidence on what is a highly complex matter and I would appeal to those who have been making pre-judgments to let the matter rest with the Police Ombudsman until she makes her findings public."
As chief superintendent of the Special Branch, Mr Lowry oversaw the raids on Stormont amid suspicions that an IRA spy-ring was operating in the NIO. The political fallout from the raids and subsequent arrests ultimately precipitated the suspension of the assembly on October 14.
In an interview with a leading English newspaper, Mr Lowry, 55, said he retired in November 2001 after he was "threatened with disciplinary action and a transfer to another section".
The Police Ombudsman was first approached at the beginning of this month to investigate the claims. However the Ombudsman returned the request as it had not been issued under the correct clause of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Act 1998. It appears that it is now the case.
(GMcG)
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