Question
In the recent Ombudsman’s report on murders carried out by the North/West UDA during the 1989/1993 period the following recommendation was listed.
Page 336:
"In 2006, the SIO heading this { Ombudsman } investigation compiled a report identifying a number of evidential links connecting an individual to several murders and attempted murders in this series. This was presented to the PSNI at that time and on a number of occasions since the dissemination of this report to the police, my office has enquired about the status of this report. PSNI have indicated that investigation of the matters is subject to their prioritisation and sequencing model for historic investigation."
Can you provide for me an update on the status of this investigation, based on a report issued to the Service almost 6 years ago, which clearly identified a number of evidential links? Has the investigation commenced? If not, is there a reason for such a long delay? Have the families concerned been appraised of developments around this investigation?
Answer
In 2016 the Police Service received for consideration, from the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI) a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) Recommendation Report. The report concerned the involvement of a named person in the Operation Greenwich series of murders and attempted murders.
In June 2017 an assessment was made that due to capacity issues within Legacy Investigation Branch (LIB) an overarching review of Op Greenwich incidents was not feasible at that time. The report from the OPONI SIO and a report from the LIB SIO were duly appended to the electronic files of each of the Op Greenwich related cases. This was done to ensure that all relevant cases would be progressed once the first case was allocated under the Case Sequencing Model.
On the 9 April 2021 the first of the series of cases identified under Op Greenwich came up for review. At this time LIB undertook an assessment of the possible linkages identified in the aforementioned OPONI report and as a result an investigative opportunity was identified in the case of the murder of Mr Daniel Cassidy.
On 12 January 2022 Detectives from LIB made an arrest for the murder of Mr Daniel Cassidy. The suspect was subsequently released for report to the Public Prosecution Service. The family of Mr Cassidy was informed at the time of the arrest.
Work is currently ongoing to assess the remaining possible links as identified in the OPONI report to other cases in the Greenwich series.
Gerry Kelly - Sinn Féin