Very few to face justice for Troubles killings, says PSNI chief

The “cold reality” is that very few people will face prosecution for cold-case killings of the Troubles, PSNI chief constable George Hamilton has told a human rights conference.

And speaking later on Tuesday night, Mr Hamilton rejected a newspaper report that the RUC had information that could have prevented the 1993 IRA Shankill bombing that claimed the lives of 10 people, including one of the bombers, Thomas Begley.

The Irish News reported on Monday that the IRA commander who planned the Shankill bombing was a police informant who notified his handlers of the plan to attack Frizzell’s fish shop on the Shankill Road in October 1993.

But at an event at Queen’s University in Belfast on Tuesday night, Mr Hamilton said he was “100 per cent convinced that the police service at the time had no knowledge of the Shankill bombing that could have prevented it”.

Mr Hamilton, speaking earlier in Belfast, had said it was “extraordinarily challenging” for the PSNI to deal with the past while policing the present. He said that 40 to 50 per cent of his time was now dedicated to dealing with the legacy of the Troubles and trying to finds means of resolving crimes, some of which happened when he was a young boy in primary school.

He realised that for those who lost loved ones during the Troubles or suffered as a result of the violence that “the past was the present” but nonetheless the PSNI faced great difficulties dealing with historic cases.

“The very cold reality is that criminal proceedings are increasingly unlikely in the vast majority of legacy cases,” said Mr Hamilton at the conference in Belfast on Tuesday organised by the North’s Human Rights Consortium.

Forensic science

“While some cases will lend themselves to further progress through the judicial system, with forensic science providing the greatest chances of success, these cases are likely to be very few in number,” said Mr Hamilton.

“I know this is difficult for many people to hear but I would rather be honest with victims and families rather than compound their hurt. Because so many people have suffered so much I don’t want to raise expectations that I can’t deliver on,” he added.

Mr Hamilton said the PSNI faced substantial costs in dealing with the past and trying to resolve more than 1,000 historic killings of the Troubles. He said he had 50 officers in the Legacy Investigations Branch which replaced the disbanded historical enquiries team (HET) to deal with such killings.

This compared with the eight officers who were addressing 16 human trafficking investigations, the approximately 60 officers who were dedicated to dealing with more than 1,200 child abuse investigations and the 30 officers dealing with more than 300 serious domestic abuse cases.

“That is an attempt to give you a perspective on the dilemma around the application of resources,” he told the conference.

Recent talks

Mr Hamilton also referred to how the recent talks leading to November’s Stormont House Fresh Start Agreement failed to endorse a previous proposal to establish an Historical Investigations Unit to carry on the work of the HET. The failure to agree mechanisms for addressing the past was “unfair on grieving families and unfair on the public services who continue to pay a price in terms of budget and public confidence for the failure to resolve the issues of the past”.

“I would encourage our politicians to continue to talk to try to resolve their differences and make progress on this challenging but critical issue. Finding a way to deal more roundedly with our past is the greatest progress that we could make towards a safe and confident and peaceful future that we all desire,” said Mr Hamilton.

He said that in terms of policing “while human rights will guide our resourcing decisions they are not an excuse to spend at will. I can’t spend what I don’t have is the point I am making.”

He said that since 2013-14 the PSNI budget was cut by £120 million (€158 million). He added that he had a duty to manage the PSNI budget while adding that he would not compromise on keeping people safe even if that meant “bursting the budget” of the PSNI.

Mr Hamilton also referred to the shot fired at officers and the serious disorder during a security alert over Sunday night and into Monday morning in Lurgan, Co Armagh. During the disturbances more than 100 petrol bombs were fired at police officers who came under sustained attack. He said it felt that “sometimes everyone has human rights except the cops”.

The conference addressed the impact of the British government possibly scrapping the British Human Rights Act in favour of a British Bill of Rights, as some members of the Conservative Party favour.

The forum was organised by the North’s Human Rights Consortium which is a coalition of nearly 200 community and voluntary groups, NGOs and trade unions who campaign for the retention of the act.

Mr Hamilton said the practical consequences of the act being repealed would “be hugely detrimental to both confidence in policing and confidence of the police to make difficult decisions especially where there are competing perspectives”.