Former Chief Constable Simon Byrne’s decision to reduce sanctions imposed on a custody sergeant on duty when a man died in a PSNI station is to be quashed, the High Court has ruled.
A judge identified no basis for Mr Byrne overturning a determination that the officer should quit for gross misconduct in connection with the death of David McGowan.
Mr Justice Kinney said: “A requirement to resign was clearly an appropriate penalty in light of the disciplinary panel’s findings.”
Mr McGowan (28) was found dead in his cell at Lisburn PSNI station following an arrest in May 2014.
Post mortem examinations indicated his death was due to the effects of alcohol and drugs.
A Police Ombudsman investigation led to the custody sergeant on the night he died being prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter.
In 2018 the officer was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing after a jury was directed to return a verdict of ‘not guilty’ on both counts.
But he also faced separate internal police misconduct proceedings for alleged breaches of the code of ethics.
With Mr McGowan assessed as having been a vulnerable person in police detention, the disciplinary panel found a high degree of culpability against the custody sergeant on some of the charges.
Sanctions imposed on him included a reduction in rank and a requirement for him to resign from his employment.
When he sought a review of the adjudication Mr Byrne, chief constable at the time, concluded in May 2022 that the ultimate sanction was not justified.
The custody sergeant was instead financially penalised by a one-year fine in his pay. It is understood that he currently remains in post.
Mr McGowan’s mother, Elizabeth, challenged the decision, claiming it was irrational, procedurally unfair and in breach of a statutory duty.
Her lawyers alleged failings on the night he died, including not enough being done to ensure he received prompt medical attention or to provide full information about his drug consumption to the attending doctor.
Ruling on the challenge, Mr Justice Kinney said the chief constable had gone beyond relevant guidance in his reappraisal of the evidence.
He found nothing to suggest the misconduct board was not entitled to make its determinations.
“I am satisfied that the chief constable has simply substituted his view for that of the disciplinary panel on questions of the appropriate weight to be attached to aspects of the evidence,” the judge said.
Referring to the charge of breaching the requirement for police officers to take every reasonable step to protect the health and safety of detained persons, he stated: “On the agreed facts as presented to the panel it was entirely open to them to consider that the culpability of the custody sergeant was very high.”
According to Mr Justice Kinney, the panel had also been wrongly criticised for considering it an aggravating factor that Mr McGowan was an “especially vulnerable” individual.
“On this point the chief constable himself simply fell into significant error,” he said.
“The aggravating factor as set out in the summary was ‘the obviously apparent vulnerability of Mr McGowan.”
The judge held that the original sanctions should not have been rescinded at a review simply because Mr Byrne took a different view.
“I have therefore come to the conclusion that the chief constable’s decision to overturn the decision of the disciplinary panel was ill founded and not one to which he could properly have come,” he confirmed.
“I therefore make an order quashing the chief constable’s review decision.”
Before rising, the judge was informed that the custody sergeant still has other potential options to appeal against the panel’s sanctions.