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TWO MEN HAVE been arrested over the suspected theft of confidential documents relating to the Loughinisland massacre.
Detectives from Durham Constabulary, supported by officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), today executed search warrants at three properties in the Belfast area.
Two residential properties and a business premises were searched.
Two men, aged 51 and 48, were arrested on suspicion of theft and are currently being questioned at Musgrave Police Station.
A number of documents and computer equipment seized during the raids will be examined by specialist officers over the coming days.
Pub massacre
The operation relates to the suspected theft of materials held by the office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland (PONI) relating to a police investigation into the murder of six men at Loughinisland, County Down on 18 June 1994.
On the day in question members of the loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) entered the Heights Bar and started shooting as football fans watched the Republic of Ireland team play in the 1994 Fifa World Cup. Six men were killed and five others were injured.
Officials from the PONI reported the theft to the PSNI, who in turn asked Durham Constabulary to conduct an independent investigation.
‘Significant development’
The inquiry centres on the theft of sensitive material which was used in a documentary film re-examining the 1994 murders.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said this morning’s arrests are “a significant development in what has been a complex investigation”.
“The terms of reference given to our inquiry were clear in that the investigation is solely into the alleged theft of material from PONI.
“The theft of these documents potentially puts lives at risk and we will follow the evidence wherever it leads us.”
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If it’s child protection ,fines can’t be high enough. The levels of vulnerability online are pretty stark .
What’s going to happen with the money increase wage for some overpaid government employees
@Gavin Kelly: That’s genuinely a great question. I see all these fines aimed at tech companies but have no idea if they ever get paid or who actually receives the money. Shouldn’t we as the public know where it goes?
@Wicked Hedgehog: This is a case of saying one thing, that these massive fines and the new digital services legislation are about protecting data in general and child protection in particular and doing another, using them to wield unbridled authoritarian control over the publication of information, media, or opposing opinions that run contrary to the preferred narrative of every issue.
In other words, if these digital platforms and entities don’t apply the censorship that is demanded by the EU to shadow ban users, censor the publication of information, based on what is deemed acceptable, rather than on what is the truth, then they will be fined and or blocked entirely.
but we are told this is not authoritarian censorship to silence dissent, its for the children..
Have an6of these mega fines ever been collected
@Jp Cleary: Not only that but you would also wonder what arrangements are in place to pay it and who gets the money. Is it the E.U or Ireland and if it is Ireland, what Dept gets it and does it show up in Govt accounts? Given the debacle with the E13 billion and the preferential tax system, is this treated as part of their tax payment or do the fines pay for their Data Centres?
Can you post a link to the claims form as I’m due some of that
The data centres being built in Ireland and destroying our electricity grid are for these criminal tech companies. It is a farce and modern day brown envelope shenanigans to allow them to get away with this.
@Lewis Armstrong: then stop consuming vast amounts of data and then the need for DCs will be reduced……
@Lewis Armstrong: Put your phone down, then, and encourage others to do the same.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Maybe the Journal should become a letters page. A random village green meeting place is chosen as a rendezvous each week,where all letters are opened and read out in public to be greeted with chants of “hear,hear!” or “down with this sort of thing!”
Bejasus! Sure make it 350m and Revolute me the extra 5
@Aiden Durkin: Send me your banking details and I’ll pass it on to the relevant authorities
It’s not often you get to comment on a story on the Journal anymore. Who was the plonker who decided the leader of a criminal gang that preyed on the elderly was entitled to a day out? Jail should mean jail. Seeing as he showed no compassion for the elderly, I wouldn’t think he cared a lot for the dead either ffs.
@Playmisty4me: It was an Irish funeral party. Some of these things can last for days. Besides,he wasn’t the only one that was late that day.
And the fine will be paid by way of chinese disposable vapes
That’d build a few houses.
Dance to that one
If Tik Tok appeals, the DPC should give them a bit of their own medicine and send them a notification saying, ‘Appeal Not Approved’!
That’ll teach ‘em.
Lol.
Can someone tell me what happens if tiktok refuses to pay and also where does the money go if they pay the fine????.
Where does the money go to, if its ever paid? The Exchequer? DPC bonuses?
Test.
That Chinese government-backed TikTok money is coming in 3-2-1…
Have any of these companies actually paid any fines, and if so who gets t money, or will they appeal and end up paying nothing
Who is going to benefit monetarily from these fines
As a national figurehead,it’s been rumoured that Bono will oversee the handover of the fine before the deadline is reached,to prevent further penalties. “What is the latest time we can put this off to,Mr.Bono?” “Eleven o’clock,TikTok”
Good
In the words of jack burton , “the cheque is in the post”
have your say