A senior PSNI officer at the centre of the Katie Simpson murder probe controversy asked the Policing Board to underwrite legal costs after he threatened to sue a member of the oversight body.
Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, who was shot and seriously injured by the New IRA last year, launched defamation proceedings against Alliance Party assembly member Nuala McAllister and the BBC in August.
The policeman, who remains on leave following the attempted murder, was featured in a recent programme produced by the BBC Spotlight team which focused on the suspicious death of Katie Simpson in Co Derry in August 2020.
A man accused of raping and killing her, Jonathan Creswell, the partner of Ms Simpson’s sister, took his own life on the second day of his trial in April.
The BBC programme examined the police investigation into Ms Simpson’s death and whether some officers were initially reluctant to investigate it as a potential crime.
During the documentary, Ms McAllister made comments about Mr Caldwell as head of a team within the PSNI.
It has now emerged that Mr Caldwell asked the Policing Board, on which Ms McAllister sits, to “underwrite the costs associated with bringing defamation proceedings”.
The oversight body subsequently responded “to advise that doing so would be out-with the remit of the board”.
It is believed the request to “underwrite the costs” came to the Policing Board through the office of PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher.
When asked if the chief constable requested that the Policing Board underwrite the costs or if the force itself has been asked to, a spokeswoman provided the same response to both questions.
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland does not comment on individual legal matters relating to staff,” she said.
“However, I can confirm the PSNI does not provide funding for legal costs, including on an underwriting basis, to officers pursuing libel and/or defamation actions in a personal capacity.
“Any legal proceedings of this nature are the responsibility of the individual officer involved, and PSNI resources are not allocated to such matters.”
Mr Caldwell’s legal team, WP Tweed and Co, has previously said that the Spotlight programme did raise “important concerns” about the PSNI investigation adding that their client denied the “false allegations and inaccuracies that seek to undermine his personal and professional reputation”.
Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, who represents Ms McAllister, previously said she “stands by her intensely researched commentary and will strenuously defend any proceedings issued challenging her contribution to that broadcast”.
At a meeting of the Policing Board in August, Mr Boutcher said the PSNI got things wrong in the initial stage of the investigation but defended Mr Caldwell, adding that he was not facing any misconduct proceedings.
“The programme was disparaging of, in my view, and damaging to his professional reputation and in turn public confidence in the police,” he said.
“Comments included in the programme were also not reflective having read the material and facts.”
Concerns have previously been raised over delays by the Police Ombudsman in publishing a report into Ms Simpson’s death.
