Boutcher pledges to ensure truth recovery body gets ‘unfettered’ access

PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher has said he will personally ensure that a new truth recovery body gains unfettered access to sensitive police information during its investigations into Troubles deaths.

Appearing before the Policing Board, Mr Boutcher said it had been an “intensely unsettling, uncertain and frustrating” week for families of victims as new legacy arrangements were introduced.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), became operational on Wednesday.

All new civil litigation and inquests into Troubles deaths which have not completed oral evidence were stopped.

Bereaved families, victims and certain public authorities can instead request the ICRIR carry out an investigation.

Mr Boutcher said: “This has major implications for the police service.

“We are now required, along with other investigatory bodies, to stop all ongoing work on cases falling within the remit of that Legacy Act.

“It also sees the end of a number of coronial inquests and civil proceedings.

“I want to put on record, for victims and families this is an intensely unsettling, uncertain and frustrating period.

“Some have sought answers for many years into the deaths of their loved ones.

“In recent weeks some families have seen inquests closed and been unable to reach a verdict before the May 1 deadline.”

Mr Boutcher said this will have been an “unimaginably difficult time” for some families.

He added: “I want those families to know if they choose to approach the independent commission that we, the PSNI, and I will personally make sure that every step is taken to ensure that the team, the commission, has unfettered and unredacted access to all material they need to carry out their work into those cases that families approach them about.”

Mr Boutcher went on to update the board on the work of the Legacy Inquest Unit.

Before the new legacy arrangements came into force, there was a five-year plan to complete 43 inquests relating to the Troubles. The chief constable said 11 of those had been completed, 16 had not been started, eight had been unable to finish and eight were not covered by the timeframe set out in the Legacy Act.

He said: “All those families have had an expectation that those inquests would provide them with answers and that has not happened.

“What I have said is that any of those families who approach the commission can be absolutely assured that any information with regards to their cases will be provided absolutely, unconditionally, unredacted, every bit of sensitive information to the commission, to Sir Declan (Morgan, chief commissioner of the ICRIR) to do whatever he can to give those families the information they are seeking.

“I can’t really do any more than that.”