Charges linked to stop-and-search harassment of families

A member of the PSNI is to be prosecuted over an assault on prominent republican Brian Carron, it has emerged. The PSNI man will appear in court later this month in connection with the incident, which came after a campaign of state harassment against the prominent republican.

The Coalisland, County Tyrone republican (pictured), is currently interned by remand at Maghaberry jail. In 2020, he had made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman about the incident in October of that year. Unusually, the matter has now been referred to the Public Prosecution Service.

Since 2019, when armed charges against him were abandoned, the Saoradh member was subjected to a series of intense stop-and-search detentions and harassment.

In one case earlier in 2020, his 13-year-old son was isolated and handcuffed by the roadside, leaving him shaking and distressed. That matter, which was also referred to the Police Ombudsman, led to condemnations by nationalist politicians.

Saoradh has frequently accused the PSNI of abusing the children of party activists. Last week they condemned the treatment of one-year-old Daithí Lundy, who they said had endured his first stop and search in Ardoyne in north Belfast on July 19.

The son of Saoradh members Alan Lundy and Shannon O’Neill and grandson of Republican Prisoner Davy Jordan, the infant was removed from a car by the PSNI at gunpoint in a heavily built-up area.

“Those who promote, endorse, and recruit for the PSNI/RUC in our communities, namely Sinn Féin, the SDLP, and the Catholic Church, should publicly explain why they continue to support this child abuse,” Saoradh said in a statement.

“Saoradh also awaits a response from the incoming Children’s Commissioner in the Occupied Six Counties, Chris Quinn, regarding these punitive, repressive, and draconian actions.”

Urgent Appeal