THE PSNI has decided against taking any action against DUP MP and Assembly member Iris Robinson over her remarks last year describing homosexuality as an abomination and suggesting that gays could be “turned round” by psychiatric treatment.
The PSNI issued a statement yesterday saying that, following a “lengthy and complex investigation” into the comments of Ms Robinson made last June on BBC Radio Ulster’s Stephen Nolan programme and in other media, police submitted a file to the Public Prosecution Service for “prosecutorial advice”.
“On receipt of the advice of the PPS, and considering all of the matters raised, the Police Service is satisfied that on the occasions considered Mrs Robinson did not commit an offence. As a consequence no further police action will be taken in relation to these complaints,” said the police.
A DUP spokesman said that the “orchestrated vilification” of Mrs Robinson had failed. “It is a shame that those behind it cannot accept the decision of the PSNI and the PPS. Iris Robinson did nothing wrong. She was asked to express a personal view and that is exactly what she did: Ulster people who believe in the fundamental right to freedom of speech accept this.
“It is regrettable that some of those who have engaged in this complete waste of police and PPS time should seek to silence any view that does not conform to their own through abusing legal process in this way. In this environment, when police resources are so vital to our society, people will rightly question whether it was the best use of detectives’ time, pursuing a politically motivated complaint. In the meantime, Iris Robinson will continue to do what she has always done – provide first-class representation for the people of Strangford,” he said.
John O’Doherty of the Rainbow Project gay pressure group said over 80 people had complained to the PSNI about her remarks and that the decision not to prosecute was a “complete miscarriage of justice”.
