'My life will never be the same again'

A County Derry woman who was wrongly named as a member of the PSNI on a poster which was erected in Dungiven last week says her 'life will never be the same again'.

The poster was placed in Dungiven on Thursday night claiming to disclose personal details on three serving police officers. The poster was erected near a bus stop in the Chapel Road area of the town.

It comes weeks after the details of about 10,000 officers and civilian staff were mistakenly released online in a major PSNI data breach.

The PSNI later stated that the poster contained 'a number of inaccuracies' and confirmed that one of the individuals named 'has no current or historic links' to the Police Service.

On Sunday evening, two men, aged 58 and 38, were arrested in connection with the incident. They were later released on bail to allow for further police enquiries.

Speaking to the County Derry Post last night, the woman, who was wrongly named on the poster, said the last few days have been 'absolutely horrific'.

The mother-of-one, who comes from the Park area, says she has never been involved in the PSNI and cannot understand why she was named on the poster.

The woman, who preferred not to be named, said she first became aware of the incident when her father called her on Thursday night.

“I was in bed early as I had to get up for work in the morning when my father called me after someone had contacted him. He told me that my name was on a poster in Dungiven. I had to get up out of bed and get my daughter up also and jump into the car in my pyjamas to drive to Dungiven. By the time we got there the poster had been removed however I received a picture of the poster the next day. By that stage it had been widely shared on social media.”

The woman has described the incident as a 'nightmare' and says it has affected the whole family, including her elderly parents.
She hasn't been able to return to work due to the anxiety and fear it has caused.

“I live on my own in a rural area with my teenage daughter and our lives have been put at risk through no fault of our own,” she said.

“They also wrote on the poster that my 'partner' was in the PSNI but that is also untrue. My boyfriend resides at a separate address and owns his own plumbing business. He has nothing to do with the PSNI whatsover and never had. We now feel that his life has been put at risk as well.

“I am very thankful for the support we have received and especially to Councillor Sean McGlinchey who has been very good.”

The woman said she is angry that police were slow to put out a statement confirming that she has no connections to the PSNI.

“I live in a small community and I am a very private person, who keeps myself to myself. I am affronted and really upset that I have been involved in a scandal like this. I am also so angry that our innocent lives have been put in the spotlight. We have been living in fear since this happened, we have been putting chairs behind the door and checking underneath the car. It has really affected my parents and also my brother and sister. My life will never be the same again,” she added.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “We will not usually discuss the security of individuals but on this occasion I can confirm that the person raising these concerns has no current or historic links to the Police Service. This is one of a number of inaccuracies in the information contained in the poster.”