After an investigation into a serious assault outside Belfast Central Library in December 2021, a police officer has been sanctioned for misconduct. The victim spent Christmas in the hospital with a broken leg after being attacked after verbally challenging two men who were assaulting two teenagers and using homophobic language. At the time, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reported that they were treating the attack as a “hate crime.”
However, the victim complained about not receiving any updates despite several requests, prompting the Police Ombudsman to investigate. They identified “clear failings in this PSNI investigation into the serious assault” and a “lack of victim updates.” The office noted that there was no evidence that the police had ever obtained a written statement from the victim.
The case was referred to the PSNI’s professional standards department, which accepted a recommendation of disciplinary action against a police officer. The officer appealed against the decision, but it was upheld, and she received an “appropriate disciplinary sanction.”
The victim, who did not wish to be identified, expressed dissatisfaction with the PSNI’s handling of the investigation, remarking that it was “very poor and I would have expected more.” He added that the assault had affected him “physically, mentally, and financially.” A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman said that “the investigating police officer failed to conduct a number of basic inquiries and over a period of months did not provide the victim with any updates about the progression of the case.” A PSNI spokesperson commented that they had received the file and investigated it after the office of the Police Ombudsman sent it to them, and “misconduct proceedings have now concluded, and the officer has been sanctioned.
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