RUC in row over Nelson murder
By Pádraig MacDabhaid
News has just emerged that the RUC and the Independent Commission for
Police Complaints (ICPC) are involved in a behind the scenes row over the
handling of the Rosemary Nelson case.
Evidence of the fallout is contained in a private document written by Paul
Donnelly, chairman of the ICPC in which Donnelly claims that threats
against Rosemary Nelson ``would not have been investigated'' had it been left
to the RUC.
The document, which is 15 pages long and has been passed to British direct
ruler Mo Mowlam, contains criticism of the police complaints system,
highlighting practices which Donnelly claims could be viewed as an
``outrageous, systematic undermining of the investigative process''.
The document asserts that the RUC initially refused to investigate
allegations that officers made death threats against Rosemary Nelson and
then only agreed to do so under pressure from the ICPC. The RUC classed the
death threat claim in the relatively minor category of ``incivility''. He
repeats the allegation that a senior RUC officer probing the death threat
claims told at least one officer under investigation to prepare a statement
in advance of the interview.
Donnelly also cites criticisms of the behaviour of RUC officers being
interviewed on serious charges and asks if their attitudes ``are possibly
tolerated by the organisation''.
When these matters were raised with Ronnie Flanagan, Donnelly says Flanagan
``was not of mind to exercise his discretion to have the matter formally
investigated''.
Donnelly was highly critical of the complaints process writing that RUC
officers are provided with ``copious material'' on the case being set out
against them before they were questioned.
Donnelly couples this with the nature of the Nelson case and writes
``Matching the above, with the nature of the complaints made, the reluctance
of witnesses to attend at police stations and the attitudes they expect to
encounter, the remarkable fact is that any witnesses come forward in such
circumstances''.
The criticisms raised in the document reflect earlier concerns expressed by
the ICPC which saw the RUC removed from an internal inquiry sparked by the
death threats against Rosemary Nelson.
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