Ex-PSNI deputy chief 'regrets' handling of sexual misconduct case
- Published
Stephen Martin was appointed temporary deputy chief constable of the PSNI in 2018 before retiring in 2020
Former PSNI Dep Ch Con Stephen Martin said he regrets not meeting a civilian employee after allegations of sexual assault against a serving officer.
Sinead McGrotty said she was subjected to inappropriate comments and touching over several years by Det Con Ronan Sharkie.
Mr Martin has faced questions over how he dealt with the sexual misconduct case.
Responding, Ms McGrotty said she was saddened by Mr Martin's statement.
"Time heals nothing for me a victim of sexual abuse, and the pain Mr Martin continues to cause me by defending his position is hard come to terms with to this day," she said.
The former PSNI senior officer now sits on Ireland's Policing Authority.
Det Con Sharkie accepted one allegation of inappropriate touching and was fined £250 after an internal disciplinary process was carried out over the allegations made by Ms McGrotty in 2012.
He retained his job.
A contact avoidance plan was put in place to try to ensure that the officer did not have access to Ms McGrotty.
Det Con Sharkie challenged this sanction in 2017 and the matter was the subject of a PSNI review.
The case came before Mr Martin, as temporary PSNI deputy chief constable, to make a decision about the contact avoidance order.
Mr Martin has confirmed he had asked for the sanction against Det Con Sharkie to be rescinded but said he had had no involvement with the previous criminal and misconduct investigations, nor the sanction imposed at the misconduct hearing or the High Court proceedings.
In a statement reported in The Times on Thursday, external, Mr Martin said he had the "utmost sympathy" for Ms McGrotty and had recently considered his "role in these events many times".
"There is absolutely no place for sexual misconduct in our society and those guilty of such crimes should face due legal process," he said.
Ms McGrotty, who joined the PSNI in 2008, said she was "let down" by the force
"An area of particular reflection for me is not meeting Ms McGrotty as part of the process.
"Whilst this was a correct PSNI process at that time, I would do it differently now and would meet her.
"I recognise her voice was important and that it wasn't heard as part of the decision making and I regret that."
Leader of Irish political party the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy, said she did not see how Mr Martin could "credibly" stay in post at the Policing Authority.
She said his continued role would be "very problematic" following revelations in the case.
Mr Martin said his first involvement in Ms McGrotty's case was when a solicitor within PSNI legal services informed him that the defendant had formally asked for the prohibition from working in the same PSNI district as Ms McGrotty to be reconsidered.
"The PSNI legal team was clear and unequivocal in its advice that I should lift the prohibition," he said.
"Accordingly, in the face of such strong legal advice, I felt the only course open to me was to rescind the prohibition."
Mr Martin added that he had made several directions following the removal of the order, including personal reassurance for Ms McGrotty, review meetings and a reminder to Det Con Sharkie of his obligations under the PSNI code of ethics.
However Ms McGrotty, who is taking an industrial tribunal against the PSNI, said that her initial complaint had been sent to Mr Martin in November 2012.
She said the removal of the order resulted in her having "unwanted contact with my abuser at work, that I should not have ever been subjected to but for him removing my protection".
"It is difficult for me to understand how Mr Martin continues to uphold the view that removing the contact avoidance plan was proportionate and necessary, leaving me exposed to further contact with my abuser until 2021," she said.
- Published5 October 2021
- Published11 October 2017
