Fears after highly sensitive RUC information divulged by Coroner’s Office

The 18 police and one member of the security services had been guaranteed full anonymity during their engagement with an inquest process, however, their names and other highly sensitive information was passed to two solicitors’ firms.

Although the firms involved have declared the sensitive material was deleted as requested, the former officers claim this is the third similar incident and is a major deterrent to them engaging with the coronial system.

One of the ex-officers, said: “What I would like to know is whether the Coroner’s Office has established who was responsible for this, and if the same person was responsible for one or both of the previous security breaches.

“There needs to be a thorough police investigation to get to the bottom of how this can happen repeatedly.”

A second said: “No-one seems to be taking it seriously – the DoJ have played it down and the PSNI have refused to investigate a complaint of misconduct in a public office. My question is this, was the leak deliberate as it is the third one that I am aware of?”

A spokeswoman for the Coroner’s Office said: “I can confirm that limited information was disclosed in error to the legal representatives in the inquest into the [2003] death of Neil McConville. This information concerned names of individuals involved in the inquest. The Legacy Inquest Unit has taken appropriate remedial steps.”

In a letter to the chair of the Justice Committee, the NI Retired Police Officers’ Association said: “These officers along with others have lost confidence in the Justice system within Northern Ireland and they certainly feel that the threat to their own safety has increased as a consequence.”

The letter goes on to say: “Confidence in the security protocols guiding the operation of public institutions within the legal system is of vital importance as many major legacy issues have yet to be addressed and failures such as the above, have a seriously negative impact on the willingness of former police personnel to engage with any investigative or coronial processes.”

Both UUP justice spokesperson Doug Beattie and TUV leader Jim Allister have expressed concern over the latest security breach.

Mr Beattie said; “I was not satisfied by the response from the Justice Minister, in particular the following part of the Minster’s response – ‘I understand the Unit took immediate steps to contact the legal representatives to track the information and ensure its immediate and permanent deletion; this inadvertent disclosure has been contained.’

”This is a bold statement based on an assurance that was not tested,” Mr Beattie said.
”There must be a full enquiry into this and the other data breaches and if there is found to be a systemic breach of data then the police must take steps to investigate and raise criminal charges.”

Mr Allister said: “This is a most serious matter which may have jeopardised the personal safety of as many as twenty former members of the security forces. It is all the more appalling that it arose from gross carelessness within the sensitive area of an inquest and the servicing thereof.

“While I have many tabled questions yet to be answered by the Justice Minister, I am not impressed that the staff responsible appear to still be continuing in this role and that any assurance of no damage does not extend beyond the undertakings from the recipients.”

In a written Assembly answer to Mr Allister, Justice Minister Naomi Long said: “The data incident in the McConville inquest has been contained; immediate steps were taken to track the information and ensure its immediate and permanent deletion. This incident was immediately reported to the DoJ’s Records and Information Management Team, in line with data incident procedures.

“The Legacy Inquest Unit has taken a series of measures in response to this incident including imposing a moratorium on issuing further disclosure without approval of the Head of Unit.”

Mrs Long added: “The staff involved in this incident have received manager’s advice and guidance, and additional data awareness training has been undertaken. A full review of disclosure management procedures, including looking at the responsibilities and obligations of partner Disclosure Providers, is currently underway.”

A spokeswoman for the Legacy Inquest Unit said they have “responded to all requests for information forwarded by individuals affected by the incidents of inadvertent disclosure,” and added: “The LIU has also communicated comprehensively with the Crown Solicitor’s Office (which represents the affected individuals) in respect of these matters and continues to engage with the Office of the Police Ombudsman for NI and the Records and Information Management Team at the Department of Justice.”

The spokeswoman also said that different staff members were involved in the incidents in question, and that “a full review of disclosure management procedures, including looking at the responsibilities and obligations of partner Disclosure Providers, is currently underway.”

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