A PSNI officer has been disciplined after armed officers mistakenly searched the home of an innocent man. Police with shields and firearms went to the wrong address in Co Down last year and arrested the man in front of his wife, the Police Ombudsman’s Office has said.
In a complaint to the ombudsman, the arrested man said he arrived home to find officers in his garden. He was searched and made to wait while police moved towards the house. His wife was in the garden at the time and was hysterical.
The man was then taken inside, and arrested in connection with a firearms offence which had happened the previous day, before being taken into custody. He was released when police realised he was not the person they were looking for.
Following his release the man lodged a complaint with the ombudsman, stating that he had been wrongfully arrested, and that his home had been unlawfully searched.
An investigation by the ombudsman found that the error was due to an incorrectly recorded date of birth in an information pack provided to the officer who organised the search. The officer who compiled the pack had recorded the name and address of another man of the same name, but mistakenly added the complainant’s date of birth.
The officer responsible admitted his mistake, and apologised to the complainant and his family. Police later tracked down and arrested the right man. – PA