Highly Commended Award for Street Talk

On Monday evening I had the pleasure of attending the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People's Participation Award ceremony in Stormont.

The Children’s Commissioner established the Awards last year to recognise and celebrate the participation and active engagement of young people in public life. They are open to all government departments, arm’s length bodies and other public sector organisations.

This year there were two categories, ‘Putting young people at the forefront’ and ‘Creating space for young people in decision making’.  The first category was for projects which were set up by organisations who specifically aim to include children and young people in decisions directly affecting them and the second category was designed for projects working directly with young people, but in this category young people were involved in wider decision making.

The Strand Road Neighbourhood Policing Team had been nominated in category one for its Street Talk project.  The project worked with 48 young people from different backgrounds and interface areas, or who have a history of offending, or are at risk of engaging in offending behaviour. The project used diversionary arts training and other activities to engage with young people, capture their interest, promote creativity, promote positive use of free time, and divert them from negative risk taking behaviour.  

I visited the project last August and was really impressed with the work of the young people and how it was breaking down the barriers between communities and young people and the police.  I was delighted that the project received a highly commended Award and this was appropriate recognition for my colleagues in Strand Road and for The Playhouse who partnered with us.  What perhaps makes these Awards all the more special is that it was a panel of young people who designed the Award criteria, selected the finalists and ultimately the winners.

This is just one of the many partnership initiatives which the PSNI are involved in every day across Northern Ireland.  Despite all the various challenges that we face, the 'day job' must and does go on.  It was great to see the young people recognised and rewarded for this excellent initiative.

I want to add my congratulations to all of the other Award winners. There were so many great initiatives, so for the Police Service of Northern Ireland to get short listed, never mind highly commended was very pleasing. 

If you would like to find out more about all the projects and recipients click http://www.niccy.org/ParticipationAwards

Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), Patricia Lewsley-Mooney pictured along with Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie and members of the Award Panel, Jill Lapping, Nikita Harkin, Aaron Gorman, Eve Malcomson, Barry McCrory, Emma Hegarty and Stephen Beattie. (Picture courtesy of Aaron McCracken/Harrisons)

Our Colleague – Constable Philippa Reynolds

It was devastating over the weekend to have to visit the family of Constable Philippa Reynolds in such tragic circumstances.  This was a young police officer who was out on duty delivering a policing service and working to keep the public safe.  She died doing what she loved. 

It is very sad that the Police Service has lost another fine member and that her family have been cheated of a daughter and sister who had so much more to give.   I met her boyfriend too, who has been robbed of future happiness with Philippa.  Reading some of the comments left by family and friends, on social media, just showed how much she was liked and loved by so many.

I met with some of Philippa's colleagues in Strand Road on Saturday night and, whilst I didn't know her personally, she just seemed such a lovely, bubbly young woman who was so excited to have been able to work in the Police Service of Northern Ireland and clearly had so much more to give to policing.  The photograph her family released to the media, I felt, just showed her bright and fun loving personality.  In a relatively short space of time within Police Service she had clearly made a huge and lasting impact on her colleagues and in her community. 

I want to echo the words of our Chief Constable, who said, "This is a personal tragedy for her family and also for the whole Police Service. She was out on duty, working to keep people safe, when she died. My thoughts and prayers are with her family at this time. I and my colleagues will ensure that no stone remains unturned as we work to bring to justice those who perpetrated this crime." 

The investigation team have worked tirelessly over the weekend to ensure that every investigative opportunity is explored.  Two men are due to  appear in court this morning charged with a range of offences and for obvious reasons I am unable to go into any further details at this time.

We will support Philippa's family at this very difficult time.  Sadly this is something that the Police Service is well practised at and does very well, and that support will continue not just in the next few days but in the weeks, months and years that lie ahead.

Today police officers and staff are out across Northern Ireland delivering a personal, professional and protective policing service.  This is the very best way that we can honour the service of our colleague, continuing to do the very thing for which she lived and, tragically, died.

Working in partnership to prevent organised crime

As I crossed the border travelling to Dublin last weekend, the sun was shining on the hills of South Armagh and it was a truly spectacular scene.  

On Wednesday I received a briefing about 14 tonnes of toxic waste discovered at a fuel laundering plant near the village of Jonesborough in South Armagh, and the potentially appalling environmental impact on the beautiful countryside I’d admired just days earlier.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HRMC) have said that it was one of the most sophisticated plants ever found in Northern Ireland and I am delighted to confirm that it has now been dismantled.  It is believed that the plant was capable of producing 25 million litres of illicit fuel with the potential to evade over £18m in taxes and duty a year.

John Whiting, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC commented that: “the level of sophistication was astounding,” and that it appeared to have been built solely for the purposes of laundering fuel.  To build this plant and install underground tanks, clearly took time and significant resources.   Therefore someone must have known that it was in operation, so I appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious to report it to police.

In addition to the level of tax evasion and the cost to the tax payer, which in reality means less money for healthcare and schools, the recklessness of those responsible and the potential impact to the environment of such a shocking level of toxic waste is completely appalling and shows a total disregard for those who live in this area.    

That is to say nothing of the danger on our roads as this illicit fuel is transported around the country, often in crudely modified vehicles which aren't designed for that purpose, with absolutely no safety measures in place, often being driven by people with no appropriate training. The catastrophic consequences of one of these vehicles being involved in a collision does not bear thinking about.

This is of course not the first fuel laundering plant dismantled in this area, or in other parts of Northern Ireland and it will certainly not be the last.

What this discovery demonstrates, is that HMRC and your Police Service are absolutely determined that criminals will not be allowed to generate income by such dangerous illegal activities.  

Despite recent operational challenges, police officers are out there dealing with criminality, working in partnership with other agencies, and are determined to deprive criminals of finance which will ultimately be used to fund acts of criminality or terror. 

Some may think that this is a victimless crime and that no-one is really being affected, and may actively support it by buying laundered fuel.  But the reality is that the revenue that is being generated is being used by organised crime gangs and terrorist groups to further their own activities, whether that is buying drugs to sell on our streets or purchasing firearms and explosives.  

The outcome of their activities is certainly not victimless.  Illegally laundered fuel can be highly damaging to engines, so what might initially seem like a cheaper alternative, in the long run, can cause  problems costing hundreds, even thousands of pounds to repair.

We will continue to work with our partners to try to stop these activities and you can help by reporting suspicious activity to the police or HMRC directly or by calling the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.  By doing so you can help protect the environment, keep our roads safe and deprive organised criminals of the funding they crave to carry out serious crime.