Police Ombudsman upholds journalist's complaint over threat to her baby

In October 2019 Patricia Devlin, a crime reporter for the Sunday World in Belfast, received a message on her personal Facebook account threatening to rape her newborn son. It was signed "Combat 18", the name of a neo-Nazi group with past links to loyalist paramilitaries. Devlin, who had reported extensively on loyalist criminality, said she believed she knew who had sent it.

The complaint

Devlin complained that the PSNI's investigation had been inadequate. Supported by the National Union of Journalists and Amnesty International, she took the complaint to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, the independent body that investigates complaints against the police.

What the Ombudsman found

In September 2021 the Ombudsman upheld the complaint. According to reporting at the time, the investigation found that "evidential opportunities were missed" and that enquiries that should have been made were not. The officer handling the case had been in the police for about six months and there was no evidence they had sought advice, while their immediate supervisors changed during the investigation. The suspected sender was thought to be living in Scotland.

The PSNI said the complaint had been upheld and the matter "dealt with under performance measures". Devlin's solicitor said he hoped the Ombudsman's recommendations would be implemented so that other people would not be failed in the same way.

What happened next

In 2023 the Public Prosecution Service took a final decision not to prosecute anyone over the message. Devlin said she was devastated and pursued a civil action against the police.

Why it matters

Journalists in Northern Ireland have faced threats from paramilitary groups for decades. In 2001 Martin O'Hagan of the Sunday World was shot dead, and in 2019 Lyra McKee was killed by dissident republicans while observing a riot in Derry. Press freedom groups argue that the way police respond to threats, including online threats, signals whether those who make them will face consequences. The Devlin case is also a reminder of why bodies such as the Police Ombudsman exist: to give an independent view when someone believes the police have failed them.