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Full investigation of former officer accused of rape 'essential' - police chief

Lucy CarlinBBC News NI
News imageGetty Images Jon Boutcher speaking into multiple microphones. He is wearing his PSNI uniform - a white shirt with black and gold details, a black tie and is wearing glasses. He has grey hair.Getty Images
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the PSNI would assist the investigation in "every way possible"

A full investigation of into alleged sexual offences by a former officer is "essential" for public confidence in policing, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable has said.

Jon Boutcher said the PSNI would assist the Police Ombudsman investigation in "every way possible".

The former officer was arrested by ombudsman investigators in December on suspicion of committing more than 10 non-recent offences, including rape, other sexual offences and misconduct in public office.

The offences are alleged to have happened between 2000 and 2009, when he was a serving officer.

News imageHugh Hume. He has short grey hair, wearing a dark grey blazer with a silver sin on the lapel, light purple shirt and purple striped tie. He is sitting on a chair beside a table in an office.
Hugh Hume is the chief executive for the office of the Police Ombudsman

On Tuesday, the ombudsman's office said there were multiple potential victims.

Ombudsman Chief Executive Hugh Hume said the "impact, scale and complexity" of the investigation had become clear.

Hume warned that other cases may be affected as all of the watchdog's available resources were being allocated to the case.

'We are here to protect people'

Boutcher said: "It is essential for public confidence in policing that any and all lines of inquiry are fully investigated by the Police Ombudsman.

"This former officer left policing some 15 years ago but we must not be complacent, there is no place for such behaviours anywhere in society, moreover in policing."

"We are here to protect people, not breach their trust," he continued.

He said that any abuse of position for sexual purposes is wholly unacceptable and "represents a serious breach of trust and a violation of the high standards rightly expected of police officers."

'Shine a light' on sexism and misogyny

Boutcher said he wanted to reassure the public that "significant work" has been undertaken in the PSNI since 2011 to "further strengthen professional standards, vetting, misconduct reporting processes and to ensure learning from past failures".

The PSNI carried out a review of investigations related to the conduct of 134 of its officers over a 10-year period which made recommendations and identified gaps in investigations.

The chief constable said he was determined to "shine a light" on the extent of sexism and misogyny in the PSNI to ensure it is as "effective as possible in ending such behaviours".

He said he had commissioned an independent review on those issues and the results of this will be made public next month.

'We will act decisively'

Boutcher said "the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff serve with integrity and dedication" and they will be more appalled than anyone at the ombudsman's announcement.

"This will hurt each one of our workforce who come into work every day to give their best and protect society," he said.

"Whenever standards fall short, we will act decisively.

"Our focus is on protecting the vulnerable, maintaining public confidence and ensuring transparency and accountability in all that we do," he added.