One of the officers was further charged with “obtaining personal information” about a female from the PSNI’s Niche computer system
Bar Berlin on Shankill Road in Belfast
Two PSNI officers today (Thursday) denied charges of alerting west Belfast bars to planned police health checks during the coronavirus pandemic.
The constables, who can’t be named due to an interim anonymity order and whose addresses were given on court papers as c/o PSNI Brooklyn, stood in the dock of Belfast Crown Court to be formally arraigned.
They are charged that on dates between December 21, 2021 and January 20, 2022, they misconducted themselves by forewarning the licensees of The Diamond Jubilee bar, The Royal Bar and Bar Berlin “in advance of a check which was to be carried out by police for the purpose of ascertaining whether the said licensed premises were compliant with public health regulations then in force”.
When the charges were put to them by the clerk of the court in relation to the Shankill Road-based bars, both defendants replied: “Not guilty.”
The officers also pleaded not guilty to a charge that between February 27 and March 2, 2022, they “caused a written account, which they knew to be false, to be falsely attributed to a member of the public to be entered into a police database of confidential intelligence”.
One of the officers was further charged with “obtaining personal information” about a female on November 4, 2014, from the PSNI’s Niche computer system without the controller’s consent.
When that charge was put to him by the court clerk, the constable replied: “Not guilty.”
Counsel for both defendants, Ian Turkington KC, told Belfast Recorder Judge Philip Gilpin that an interim anonymity order was successful in Belfast Magistrates’ Court by virtue of a ‘TM1’ (a PSNI threat message), and he asked for the order to be extended to the Crown Court.
He said he had asked the PPS for a further update on the ‘TM1’ and that it was currently being looked into by the police.
Mr Turkington told the court there was potential medical evidence in relation to one of the officers in respect of the anonymity order.
As the case is not covered by the withdrawal of services by the Criminal Bar Association in a dispute over legal aid fees, Judge Gilpin said the court could fix an early trial for the case next month.
Mr Turkington replied that he didn’t think that was feasible given the “complicated nature of the charges, and I take the view the trial would not be ready until after Halloween ”.
Prosecution lawyer David McNeill said the Crown’s position on the interim anonymity order “remains neutral as it was in the lower court”.
He added that police had been requested to provide further information on the ‘TM1’ and that this information is currently awaited.
Mr McNeill requested that the defence statements be served as soon as possible and the prosecutor suggested the agreement of ten witnesses in the case.
“This is not a witness-heavy case but a document-heavy case, and we would ask for attention to be brought to those matters as soon as possible,” said Mr McNeill.
Mr Turkington told the court that the defence statements had been drafted and needed to be signed off by the accused, and they would be served on the court and the PPS by next week.
Judge Gilpin said he would extend the interim anonymity order for one week to allow the press to make any representations to the court in relation to the defence application.
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