A serving PSNI officer is being investigated by the Police Ombudsman over a court application to secretly access a bank account belonging to loyalist Jamie Bryson, The Irish News understands.
The probe relates to an application to the Crown Court made in secret by PSNI officers in 2017.
The loyalist activist subsequently sought an order from the same court that the PSNI hand over all documents relating to the application.
Among the documents he received was an intelligence report that was used by the PSNI and then-Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to secure a Public Interest Immunity certificate from the judge.
The intelligence report disclosed that the PSNI had no information linking Mr Bryson to criminality or a proscribed organisation.
However, the report mistakenly contained sensitive information, including banking details, relating to a businesswoman and her partner, who were completely unrelated to the case and the centre of a separate police investigation.
Following the error, the couple told the Irish News they were “worried sick” that police incompetence could have led to their information falling into the hands of others.
There is no suggestion Mr Bryson shared the contents of the document with anyone else, and he described the mistake as a “massive blunder” by police.
It is alleged by Mr Bryson that the document containing the information unrelated to him was presented to the court as part of the application to access his bank account.
It is understood that the Police Ombudsman’s investigation following Mr Bryson’s complaint centres on two officers, one of whom is now retired, and the serving officer has been notified.
The loyalist said the investigation is a “significant and welcome development”.
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“The Police Ombudsman has confirmed that one officer has been served with a disciplinary notice, whilst another has retired so is outside the scope of PONI,” he said.
“Whilst I don’t entirely accept that to be correct as a matter of law, that officer can be pursued via civil legal proceedings.
“I await an apology from the PSNI for this, and a multitude of other appalling actions. This is not a matter which I intend to let rest until there is accountability for each and every PSNI officer who was involved in any way.”
A Police Ombudsman spokesperson told The Irish News: “The investigation into the complaint is on-going.”
