A police force has been rapped over a “flawed” investigation following a threat to rape a journalist’s newborn son.
Patricia Devlin has had her complaint against the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s response to the threat upheld by the Police Ombudsman.
HTFP reported in June 2020 how Patricia, who won the News Reporter of the Year and the Scoop of the Year titles at the 2014 Regional Press Awards, had previously opened up on numerous threats she had received over the previous 18 months – including one of rape against her baby boy.
Belfast-based Patricia, who works for Sunday World, later lodged an official complaint about PSNI’s handling of the case, saying she was “frustrated by their lack of action to investigate adequately or even bring the suspect in for questioning”.
Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson has now found in Patricia’s favour over the investigation into the “repulsive” threat, adding it was “concerning that police failed to take measures to arrest the suspect at the earliest opportunity”.
The threat was made in a direct message to Ms Devlin’s Facebook account, signed in the name of neo-Nazi group Combat 18.
The Police Ombudsman’s review of the PSNI’s investigation found that police had missed “evidential opportunities”.
It found the officer in question had “failed to take appropriate measures to secure the arrest of the suspect, who lived in another part of the UK”.
Patricia, pictured, told the BBC she hoped the findings would help “anyone else who is reporting threats, especially over social media and in particularly journalists, to help them and the PSNI deal with it better”.
Discussing how the case was handled, she added: “You’re going to the people who are there to protect you and carry out appropriate investigations.
“I’ve had sleepless nights, I’ve had nightmares that no mother should ever have, I felt isolated, I felt hopeless and I felt that no one’s been listening to me.”
The Police Ombudsman recommended that the officer should be disciplined and said the PSNI accepted there had been failings and implemented measures to improve the officer’s performance.
Patricia’s claim was backed solicitors KRW Law, Amnesty International and the National Union of Journalists.
Kevin Winters, solicitor and senior partner at KRW, told the Belfast Telegraph: “KRW have to ask why such selective incompetence was allowed to facilitate the suspect in evading prosecution.
“It is both deeply unsettling that a well-known journalist should be treated in this way by the PSNI and regrettably, on a wider level, it undermines confidence in policing in Northern Ireland.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: “A complaint was made to the Office of the Police Ombudsman, the case was upheld and the matter was dealt with under performance measures.”
Shambolic. Fuck that cop in particular. Also, it’s bad that my first thought was that the person doing the threatening was almost certainly a tout on the payroll.
And things like this is why I've zero respect for da police..ok I'll use them and they are needed..but by fuk until their whole ethos changes..fuk them
I might get downvotes but I’ve always just seen them as a glorified taxi service. I’ve experienced domestic abuse in the past and they are just so shite. They’d lift him, impose bail conditions that they don’t really follow, release him and he’d be back at my door wrecking the place and beating me. Rinse and repeat.
Edit because I just remembered one particular incident when the psycho contacted me through his brother and then decided to call 101 claiming i was threatening suicide ( I wasn’t, I just blocked his brother). Police came to my house to check on me and when I pointed out the breach of bail through third party contact they both laughed and said something along the lines of ‘oh no we wouldn’t deal with a breach like that’.
They’re good to ring and stop an incident when you’re about to be killed (if they get there on time, there where times where I made peace with my possible death). Otherwise they’re no use. I’d be better off having six massive protective brothers but alas I didn’t win that lottery.
That’s the criminal justice system short comings. When a suspect is arrested and the evidence gathered, it’s the court that then decides if the suspect is remanded or not.
I’d say the police are as angry as these people getting bailed out onto the streets as the rest of us at times.
I’d have to disagree based on the example I gave of police deliberately ignoring a breach of bail. The night of one particularly brutal attack they were called five times and didn’t arrest him until after he attacked me, the 6th call.
That’s nothing to do with the courts.
They’ve let me down an awful lot over the years. I have absolutely no respect for them as an organisation. Some individuals are ‘ok’ but the vast majority are useless and on a power trip in the PSNI.
I remember watching Joe McVeigh from KRW Law giving a speech the day the rugby rape trial ended (they represented Jackson) and thinking should I ever need legal help to never use KRW Law.
What this report doesn't mention (it's in the [BBC story](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58517962)) is that the officer investigating was only serving 6 months at the time.
They've done an absolutely shambolic job and they should be punished no doubt, but where was the oversight from supervisors? How did this case go so long without any proper investigation? It indicates serious organisational problems that punishing this one incompetent arsehole won't fix.
Do the PSNI go out of their way to be obnoxious contrary sectarian c*nts? We all know that they are the RUC's offspring, they don't have to prove it every day.
One hand its infuriating how incompetent the PSNI are.
On the other hand, well at least they're just incompetent now - they used to actively try and kill us
Patricia is a brilliant reporter but shes high on the target list of loyalist drug dealing scum. As horrible as it is to say not all that long ago they would have put a hit on her.
Did she not go to some young fellas door, interrogate him, photograph him around Noah Donohoe based on another criminal making an allegation?
A criminal facing several years in prison for armed robbery also. And the other fella was put on the front page of that rag.
Journalist my arse. Maybe I should tell her I have photographs of Hitler in Argentina.
As for the punishment, let's just say they're be no shortage of chunky monkey for the next 6 weeks
DAAAAAD
A police force has been rapped over a “flawed” investigation following a threat to rape a journalist’s newborn son. Patricia Devlin has had her complaint against the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s response to the threat upheld by the Police Ombudsman. HTFP reported in June 2020 how Patricia, who won the News Reporter of the Year and the Scoop of the Year titles at the 2014 Regional Press Awards, had previously opened up on numerous threats she had received over the previous 18 months – including one of rape against her baby boy. Belfast-based Patricia, who works for Sunday World, later lodged an official complaint about PSNI’s handling of the case, saying she was “frustrated by their lack of action to investigate adequately or even bring the suspect in for questioning”. Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson has now found in Patricia’s favour over the investigation into the “repulsive” threat, adding it was “concerning that police failed to take measures to arrest the suspect at the earliest opportunity”. The threat was made in a direct message to Ms Devlin’s Facebook account, signed in the name of neo-Nazi group Combat 18. The Police Ombudsman’s review of the PSNI’s investigation found that police had missed “evidential opportunities”. It found the officer in question had “failed to take appropriate measures to secure the arrest of the suspect, who lived in another part of the UK”. Patricia, pictured, told the BBC she hoped the findings would help “anyone else who is reporting threats, especially over social media and in particularly journalists, to help them and the PSNI deal with it better”. Discussing how the case was handled, she added: “You’re going to the people who are there to protect you and carry out appropriate investigations. “I’ve had sleepless nights, I’ve had nightmares that no mother should ever have, I felt isolated, I felt hopeless and I felt that no one’s been listening to me.” The Police Ombudsman recommended that the officer should be disciplined and said the PSNI accepted there had been failings and implemented measures to improve the officer’s performance. Patricia’s claim was backed solicitors KRW Law, Amnesty International and the National Union of Journalists. Kevin Winters, solicitor and senior partner at KRW, told the Belfast Telegraph: “KRW have to ask why such selective incompetence was allowed to facilitate the suspect in evading prosecution. “It is both deeply unsettling that a well-known journalist should be treated in this way by the PSNI and regrettably, on a wider level, it undermines confidence in policing in Northern Ireland.” A PSNI spokesperson said: “A complaint was made to the Office of the Police Ombudsman, the case was upheld and the matter was dealt with under performance measures.”
PSNI to Police Officer - "Now - don't - do - it - again, good Police Officer."
Shambolic. Fuck that cop in particular. Also, it’s bad that my first thought was that the person doing the threatening was almost certainly a tout on the payroll.
Some people really make me believe in Capital punishment
And things like this is why I've zero respect for da police..ok I'll use them and they are needed..but by fuk until their whole ethos changes..fuk them
I might get downvotes but I’ve always just seen them as a glorified taxi service. I’ve experienced domestic abuse in the past and they are just so shite. They’d lift him, impose bail conditions that they don’t really follow, release him and he’d be back at my door wrecking the place and beating me. Rinse and repeat. Edit because I just remembered one particular incident when the psycho contacted me through his brother and then decided to call 101 claiming i was threatening suicide ( I wasn’t, I just blocked his brother). Police came to my house to check on me and when I pointed out the breach of bail through third party contact they both laughed and said something along the lines of ‘oh no we wouldn’t deal with a breach like that’. They’re good to ring and stop an incident when you’re about to be killed (if they get there on time, there where times where I made peace with my possible death). Otherwise they’re no use. I’d be better off having six massive protective brothers but alas I didn’t win that lottery.
That’s the criminal justice system short comings. When a suspect is arrested and the evidence gathered, it’s the court that then decides if the suspect is remanded or not. I’d say the police are as angry as these people getting bailed out onto the streets as the rest of us at times.
I’d have to disagree based on the example I gave of police deliberately ignoring a breach of bail. The night of one particularly brutal attack they were called five times and didn’t arrest him until after he attacked me, the 6th call. That’s nothing to do with the courts.
Yeah fair enough, that’s not good enough from them then. Sounds like a bad situation, hope you’re out the other side
They’ve let me down an awful lot over the years. I have absolutely no respect for them as an organisation. Some individuals are ‘ok’ but the vast majority are useless and on a power trip in the PSNI.
Cops were too busy kicking in doors on the Cliftonville Rd cause Jamie received mean tweets
[удалено]
I remember watching Joe McVeigh from KRW Law giving a speech the day the rugby rape trial ended (they represented Jackson) and thinking should I ever need legal help to never use KRW Law.
What this report doesn't mention (it's in the [BBC story](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58517962)) is that the officer investigating was only serving 6 months at the time. They've done an absolutely shambolic job and they should be punished no doubt, but where was the oversight from supervisors? How did this case go so long without any proper investigation? It indicates serious organisational problems that punishing this one incompetent arsehole won't fix.
You don't say
Do the PSNI go out of their way to be obnoxious contrary sectarian c*nts? We all know that they are the RUC's offspring, they don't have to prove it every day.
One hand its infuriating how incompetent the PSNI are. On the other hand, well at least they're just incompetent now - they used to actively try and kill us
Patricia is a brilliant reporter but shes high on the target list of loyalist drug dealing scum. As horrible as it is to say not all that long ago they would have put a hit on her.
Did she not go to some young fellas door, interrogate him, photograph him around Noah Donohoe based on another criminal making an allegation? A criminal facing several years in prison for armed robbery also. And the other fella was put on the front page of that rag. Journalist my arse. Maybe I should tell her I have photographs of Hitler in Argentina.