A police officer (Officer A) has been disciplined after a court case was thrown out because he failed to disclose to the Public Prosecution Service the existence of relevant CCTV footage.
The officer gave evidence during a court case on 18 September 2008 at which a man (Man A) faced charges of disorderly behaviour, resisting police and assault on police.
During cross-examination, the officer was asked by Man A's solicitor whether there was any CCTV of the incident which gave rise to the charges.
Officer A replied that there was but it did not cover the entire incident and did not show any offences. The officer had not previously disclosed the existence of the CCTV footage to the PPS, but had brought a copy to court.
The footage was then viewed by Man A's solicitor and the Public Prosecutor. Both concluded that the footage was relevant to the offences and should have been disclosed. As a result, the PPS withdrew the case against Man A.
The PPS subsequently referred the officer's handling of the case to the Police Ombudsman for independent investigation.
Police Ombudsman investigators received evidence that Officer A had viewed the footage once prior to seizing it, but had not disclosed it to the PPS as he did not think it was relevant to the offences he was investigating.
They also established that he had brought the footage to court as he thought Man A's solicitor may have alleged that he had assaulted Man A.
When shown the footage during interview Officer A accepted that it was relevant and should have been disclosed in accordance with the Criminal Procedures and Investigation Act 1996. However, he denied the criminal offence of perverting the course of justice.
At the conclusion of his enquiries the Police Ombudsman submitted a file to the PPS, which concluded that Officer A should not face prosecution.
The case was then reviewed again by the Police Ombudsman who concluded that Officer A's actions had contravened the CPIA and recommended that he should be disciplined. The recommendation has since been acted upon by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.