PSNI ‘failed to act properly on intelligence’ of threat to Glenn Quinn

By Gráinne Ní Aodha (PA)

The PSNI “failed to deal properly” with intelligence that said there was a threat to a man’s life days before he was murdered, the Police Ombudsman has said.

Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI apologised to the family of Glenn Quinn for how the threat assessment was handled, and said that intelligence was “not an exact science”.

Mr Quinn, 47, was found beaten to death at his home in Ashleigh Park, Carrickfergus on January 4 2020.

He was found by police shortly before 6.30pm that day, as they responded to information that he had been assaulted with baseball bats and had sustained head injuries and a broken arm.

The ombudsman released a statement on Sunday which said intelligence was received three days before Mr Quinn’s death that stated his name and home address and that he was to be shot dead at the property.

Ombudsman Marie Anderson said her inquiries established Mr Quinn was not told about the threat because he was not associated on police systems with the address given in the intelligence.

“This led to police failing to identify him as a target,” said Mrs Anderson.

“However, if police had visited the address it is likely that they would have been able to confirm that he lived there, which would have verified the credibility of the threat.

“This would have led to Mr Quinn being given a threat warning notice which would have provided him with an opportunity to consider police advice in respect of appropriate precautionary measures.”

The duty inspector who initially received the intelligence noted that it was from an anonymous source, that the name and address it mentioned did not match information on police systems, and that there had been many similar reports from the same area.

The now-retired officer assessed that it did not represent a “real and immediate threat to life” and advised that instead of tasking out-of-hours resources to further research the intelligence, it should be revisited in the morning.

On January 2, 2020 before 2pm, an intelligence researcher referred the Crimestoppers file to a second duty inspector.

At 4.24pm that day, the inspector recorded that there was no need for police to take any immediate threat-management measures, noting: “The ID of the male is not known, it is an untested source, any motive is not clear, there is no timescale, no location and little other information to corroborate the document”.

Mrs Anderson said visiting the address was “a reasonable line of enquiry that police ought to have pursued”.

“In failing to do so it is my view that the officers involved failed to follow relevant PSNI procedures and comply with the Article 2 right to life requirements as reflected in that policy.”

The Police Ombudsman recommended that a duty inspector should be disciplined for this failing, and said she would have made a similar recommendation about the other duty inspector if they had not retired.

But the PSNI decided that the serving officer had no case to answer for misconduct and should not be disciplined, and instead should receive additional training, the ombudsman said.

Mrs Anderson expressed disappointment that her disciplinary recommendation had not been accepted “given the significance of the failings identified” but welcomed training introduced last month for police making ‘life and death’ decisions.

Deputy Chief Constable Todd apologised to the family of Mr Quinn on behalf of the organisation.

“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.”

He said the PSNI must be “a learning organisation” and he takes responsibility for that requirement.

“The confidence of the communities we serve is at the forefront of our minds,” he said.

“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.”

An appeal for information about Mr Quinn’s murder has been renewed; detectives in the major investigation team can be contacted on 101 or charity Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111.