A man with mental health problems spent four months in prison, suspected of involvement in the 1981 murder of nine-year-old Jennifer Cardy, after police failed to follow guidelines for the protection of vulnerable suspects.
That is the conclusion of a Police Ombudsman investigation into allegations that in 1984 police forced a man suffering from schizophrenia to confess involvement in Jennifer’s murder.
The man (Man A) claimed to have been held against a wall and threatened with assault if he did not sign a statement of confession which was being prepared for him by one of the interviewing officers.
While the Police Ombudsman investigation of Man A’s claims found insufficient evidence that he had been verbally or physically abused, it concluded that detectives had failed to follow guidelines designed to protect vulnerable suspects even though several doctors and police officers recalled Man A’s fragile mental state at the time.
Police Ombudsman investigator Stephen Black said: “The failure to follow guidelines left police at the time exposed to allegations that Man A was forced or influenced into making a false confession.
“As a result of police actions a vulnerable member of society spent four months in a prison environment, which can only have caused a further deterioration in his mental condition.
“Despite all the charges against him being dropped, the stigma and impact of this experience remains with him.”
Jennifer Cardy was abducted on 12 August 1981 while riding her bicycle from her home in Ballinderry to a friend’s house less than two miles away. Her body was discovered six days later in water at McKee’s Dam, outside Hillsborough.
On 27 October 2011, Robert Black was convicted of the murder. He later appealed against his conviction, but the appeal was dismissed on 27 June 2013.
Concerns about the treatment of Man A by police during the 1984 interviews came to light in 2010 when he was reinterviewed as a significant witness during the police preparation of the case against Robert Black. The PSNI then asked the Police Ombudsman’s Office to investigate the claims.
Enquiries by Police Ombudsman investigators established that Man A was arrested in connection with Jennifer’s murder on 6 July 1984, two days after a woman contacted police to say he had confessed involvement during a telephone conversation with her.
Man A was then taken to Lisburn police station for questioning by two experienced detectives (Officers 1 and 2). He was interviewed for an initial two hour period, and then after an hour and a half break, for another three hours. At the end of this he signed a statement confessing involvement in Jennifer’s abduction and death.
The interviews were conducted at Lisburn police station. There was no CCTV at the station, and at that time interviews with suspects were not audio recorded.
Man A was not offered access to legal advice, and contrary to guidelines for the interview of vulnerable witnesses, he was not accompanied by a friend, social worker or other adult during the interviews.
There is also no record that, during his time in police custody, Man A was provided with the medication he had been prescribed to control his schizophrenia, and his behaviour while in police custody would be consistent with not having taken it.
Although Man A was medically examined four times during his three day detention at Lisburn Police Station, the first examination did not take place until four hours after he had signed his confession.
All four doctors recorded that Man A was agitated, two noted that he was talking to himself, and one noted an area of hair loss consistent with him having pulled at it. One of the doctors also noted that Man A had made an allegation that he had been verbally abused by officers.
Another doctor said Man A had told him he had nothing to do with Jennifer’s murder and had confessed under duress, though did not claim to have been physically abused. The doctor subsequently told a uniformed male officer that he believed it was unlikely Man A had any involvement in Jennifer’s death.
None of the police witnesses interviewed by Police Ombudsman investigators recalled being told this by Dr B.
However, a number of officers did recall that Man A appeared to have mental health issues, given his speech and behaviour. One described him as a “light-headed” man who would have “admitted to anything”.
None of the officers recalled him being mistreated in any way, however.
Man A spent four months in Crumlin Road prison before the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
The DPP prosecutor who made that decision was interviewed by Police Ombudsman investigators. He said he had concerns that police should have taken greater care when interviewing Man A, given his history of mental ill-health.
He added that he was also aware that Man A had no prior criminal record or history of violence, and that Man A’s legal representative had told a remand hearing that the confession was fictitious.
Only one of the two officers who interviewed Man A at Lisburn police station in 1984 is still alive (Officer 1). He told Police Ombudsman investigators that he had no concerns at any stage that Man A had been medically unfit for interview.
He said responses given by Man A during questioning gave him reasonable grounds to suspect that Man A was involved in Jennifer’s disappearance. The officer added that Man A had not referred at any stage to his medication, and denied having at any stage physically or verbally abused him.
The law requires the Police Ombudsman to submit a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of cases involving allegations of potential criminality by police officers. A file was submitted in relation to the conduct of Officer 1, and the DPP subsequently directed that he should not be prosecuted.
No disciplinary action could be taken in respect of the failings identified by the investigation as the officers involved are either deceased or retired from the police.