PSNI data breach: Donaldson says police should not be left leaderless

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) should not be left leaderless while a massive data breach is investigated, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader has said.

The data, which was mistakenly released, included the surnames and first initials of 10,000 PSNI staff.

Chief Constable Simon Byrne said the information was now in the hands of dissident republicans.

Former vice chairman of the SDLP Tom Kelly has called on him to resign.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson told Radio 4's Today programme that the PSNI should not be left leaderless but that it needed to be established very quickly how the breach had happened.

Sir Jeffrey added the question of accountability for the breach would follow.

"But I don't want to leave the PSNI leaderless at this stage, it is important he oversees this stage of the process," he said.

"That leadership is necessary to ensure stability within the PSNI."

The information released in the data breach included the rank or grade of staff, where they are based and the unit in which they work.

Mr Byrne said the information could be used to "intimidate or target officers and staff".

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it was important that there is stability at the top of the PSNI

The threat to officers means they must be extremely vigilant about their security.

Many, especially from nationalist communities, keep their employment secret, in some cases even from many family members.

In March, the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland was raised from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

That followed an attack on a senior officer who suffered life-changing injuries after being shot several times by dissident republican paramilitaries.

Earlier, former NI Policing Board member Tom Kelly told the BBC that the "buck stops at the top of any organisation" and that Mr Byrne should have stepped down within a day or two of the breach becoming public.

"He is ultimately responsible for this, there are serious questions to be asked because the safety of his officers are at stake," Mr Kelly added.

'No knee-jerk reactions'

However, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said that as there was no Northern Ireland Assembly, no replacement chief constable could be appointed if Mr Byrne resigned.

"I believe in due process and I think that there needs to be a very robust investigation into how this was possible," the former justice minister said.

"This is an unprecedented breach and I think exposes a systemic failure in terms of data protection within the PSNI.

"However I tend not to jump to knee-jerk reactions when it comes to demanding people's resignations."

Following the news of the breach, it later emerged 200 officers and staff of the Police Service of Northern Ireland were not informed of the theft of personal data from a superintendent's car for a month.

Police said people affected by the security breach in Newtownabbey on 6 July were informed about the incident on 4 August.

The nature of the missing data had to be confirmed.

The senior officer remains in his post while the subject of an investigation into the theft of the document and police-issue laptop.

Ulster Unionist Party assembly member Mike Nesbitt, who is a member of the Policing Board, said the information given by police over the breach from the car was vague compared to information about the larger data breach.

He said he wanted the chief constable to explain when exactly the Information Commissioner's Office had been informed about the theft from the car.

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On Monday, Mr Byrne said the PSNI were "working round the clock to assess and mitigate" the risk to officers.

Information released included that of officers working in sensitive areas

He said dissident republican paramilitaries could use the list of names to generate "fear and uncertainty".

Details released in what Mr Byrne earlier called a breach of "industrial scale" included names of people who work in sensitive areas such as surveillance and intelligence.

Liam Kelly, the chairman of the Police Federation for Northern Ireland (PFNI), the body that represents police officers, urged all police officers and staff to exercise "maximum vigilance".

Mr Byrne said the safety and welfare of officers and staff was his top priority and said an online service had been set up to deal with any staff concerns.

Contrary to some reports, there was no evidence of movement of officers and staff outside the organisation and he paid tribute to the "resilience" of staff, he added.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the UK government remained committed to providing specialist support and expertise.

"I know that PSNI and security partners will continue to take proportionate action to protect officers and staff and their families," he added.

A 'sinister' document was posted outside a Sinn Féin office, said Gerry Kelly

Earlier on Monday, police said they were investigating an incident where a document was posted on a wall in west Belfast, allegedly showing information released in the breach.

Names were redacted from the document, which was found near a Sinn Féin office alongside a photo of the party's policing spokesperson, Gerry Kelly.

There was also a threatening message which read: "Gerry we know who your mates are."