Police Service of Northern Ireland statement in response to the publication of the Police Ombudsman’s report on the Glenn Quinn murder

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said: “First and foremost, on behalf of the Police Service, I want to apologise to the family of Glenn Quinn for the shortcomings in the handling of the threat assessment in the days leading up to his murder. My thoughts are with Glenn’s family at this difficult time.  Those responsible for the brutal and senseless murder of Glenn need to be brought to justice and I would appeal for anyone with information to come forward in confidence.

“The Police Service accepts the learning highlighted by the Police Ombudsman during her investigation and we have now implemented recommendations to ensure that incidents of a similar nature do not occur again.  Formal training for officers required to make critical life and death decisions while responding to death threats has now been introduced.  In addition, instructions have also been issued to those involved in the management of threats to reinforce the importance of ensuring that all feasible operational steps are taken to mitigate the threat and ensure a consistent approach to the assessment of threat messages.  We must be a learning organisation and I take responsibility for that.

“The confidence of the communities we serve is at the forefront of our minds.  Keeping people safe will always be our priority and how safe people feel is an important factor in their quality of life. I want to reassure the public that our officers and staff are working around the clock to prevent crime and harm to individuals, protect the vulnerable and detect those who commit crime and bring them before the courts. Policing is a human endeavour and sometimes mistakes are made.  The scale and complexity of this work is exceptionally challenging.  Intelligence is not an exact science and police often have to work off a partial picture.

“This police investigation into the brutal murder of Glenn Quinn is ongoing and I again appeal to anyone who has any information that can assist to contact detectives in the Major Investigation Team on 101 or the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.”