North's Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson returns to work

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson has returned to work after an absence because of illness.

In a statement, Mrs Anderson said she is looking forward to recommencing her role.

Her office deals with complaints about the conduct of police in the region.

In 2023 it emerged that West Midlands Police in England were examining events related to an incident at a property linked to Mrs Anderson in Holywood, Co Down.

Police Service of Northern Ireland officers went to the property at about 6.30pm on September 23rd, 2023, after a report of a domestic incident.

A man was arrested as part of the inquiry and later released pending a report to prosecutors. A file was subsequently sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

West Midlands Police were then tasked with investigating further aspects of the incident.

In June 2024, the Northern Ireland Assembly was told that Mrs Anderson had taken a leave of absence due to illness.

In a statement on Monday, Mrs Anderson said: “I am pleased to be back at work and am looking forward to recommencing my role.

“I would like to thank my senior staff who led the work of the office during my illness and continued to demonstrate the value of our investigations in building public confidence in independent investigation of police complaints and in our work to improve policing.”

In relation into the incident in September 2023, a PSNI spokesperson said: “There is an ongoing police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment at this time.”