PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has to resign, says DUP

The DUP's Trevor Clarke said Mr Byrne's position had become untenable

Simon Byrne has no option but to resign as chief constable of the PSNI, the Democratic Unionist Party has said.

Pressure has been mounting on Mr Byrne after a number of recent controversies.

On Tuesday, a court ruled that two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a Troubles commemoration event.

The judge said they were disciplined to allay a threat that Sinn Féin could withdraw its support for policing, but Sinn Féin says there was no threat.

The party's Policing Board member Gerry Kelly said: "At no stage during any calls to, or meetings with, senior PSNI officers did I suggest or insinuate that Sinn Féin would withdraw support for the rule of law or policing, or remove our members from the Policing Board.

"Our focus is fully on continuing to play a role in helping to ensure that our policing service is fair, impartial, efficient, effective and accountable."

In August, the names of 10,000 officers and civilian staff were mistakenly released as part of a response to a Freedom of Information request.

It was one of a number of data breaches involving information about staff.

Low morale within the service has been reported in recent months, with some staff saying they fear for their safety over the breaches.

Sinn Féin and the DUP are the largest nationalist and unionist parties respectively in Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive, which the DUP collapsed in February 2022 as part of its protest against Brexit trading agreements.

Each has three seats on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, a public body made up of 10 political and nine independent members that holds the chief constable to account for the delivery of policing.

The board is holding an emergency meeting on Thursday over the latest controversy.

Credibility

On Wednesday, DUP MLA Trevor Clarke said Mr Byrne's position had become untenable.

"It's clear the officers don't have confidence and now politicians don't have confidence and clearly the public won't have confidence," said the South Antrim MLA, who is also a member of the Policing Board.

"The only option open to Simon is to resign," he told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"Where a judge has said a chief constable's prepared to sacrifice his young officers, how can the chief constable or anyone else expect their support or anyone else's support after that?

"It's difficult to see any credibility that the chief constable has left."

Uniformed officers arrested a man at the memorial on Belfast's Ormeau Road in February 2021

Fresh questions over Mr Byrne's leadership were raised on Tuesday after a judge ruled that two junior PSNI officers were unlawfully disciplined for an arrest made at a commemoration on Belfast's Ormeau Road in February 2021.

The event marked a UFF attack at a bookmakers in which five people were killed and nine others were injured.

In February 2021, the annual wreath-laying ceremony at the scene took place amid restrictions on public gatherings due to Covid-19 regulations.

During this, one man who had been shot and injured in the attack was detained on suspicion of disorderly behaviour and put in handcuffs.

He was later released without charge.

Mr Justice Scoffield quashed decisions to suspend one probationary constable and re-position his colleague.

It was not so long ago that Simon Byrne was weathering a storm of demands from unionists for his resignation following the fallout over the funeral of a senior republican figure, Bobby Storey.

It may sound familiar to what is happening now, but the political heat over that eventually cooled down and the chief constable's contract was extended for a three-year term by the Policing Board in May.

Parties on the board who backed that decision then have now changed their tune, citing the summer furore over a major data breach and Tuesday's court ruling as reasons for the loss of confidence in him.

Mr Byrne is due to appear before a Westminster committee on Tuesday to discuss the data breach.

Will he still be in post by then?

As one seasoned politician put it to me when I asked them to rate Mr Byrne's chances of survival: "Even a cat only has nine lives."

On Tuesday, Mr Justice Scoffield held: "I have been persuaded that the respondent imposed suspension in the first applicant's case because of the threat (whether real or perceived) that, if it did not do so, republican support for policing would be withdrawn. 

"To reach a decision on that basis was in my view unlawful."

The chief constable had already faced pressure this summer over a major PSNI data breach

Despite acknowledging the difficult situation in which the PSNI was placed, he concluded that the decision to move the second officer was also influenced by the same threat, real or perceived.

Reacting to the judgement, Mr Byrne said he accepted "there was a legal error in the way in which the public interest test was applied in deciding to suspend one officer and reposition another, rendering the action unlawful".

He added: "It is important however to clarify that neither officer has been disciplined to date.

"This judgment relates to the decision to suspend one officer and reposition another whilst the Police Ombudsman conducted an investigation following a public complaint.

"We will of course take time to carefully consider the full judgment to ensure any lessons are learnt to prevent any future recurrence."

Run out of road?

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said the court ruling is "as bad as it gets" and he at this point has "no confidence" in the leadership of the PSNI.

But he said the chief constable resigning "may not necessarily fix" wider leadership issues in policing.

He proposed asking His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary to examine the leadership of the PSNI.

Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister said he believes Mr Byrne had "run out of road" and that he "shouldn't last the week" as chief constable.

"He should do the honourable thing at last and go," he said.

The Alliance Party's Nuala McAllister said calling for Mr Byrne's resignation at this stage would be premature.

She said her party was not happy with how the situation has been handled, however, they wanted "clear answers" from the chief constable at the Policing Board.

Mark H Durkan, of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, said serious issues had been exposed and "confidence continues to ebb away from policing".

"The SDLP believes that there will be a time when there must be personal accountability for these failures," he said.