‘No criminal offense detected’ by PSNI in messages sent by Sinn Féin’s JJ Magee – The Irish Times

Police investigation into inappropriate online messages sent by a person Sinn Fein An underage councilor found that “no crime of any kind was detected”.

Related reports J. J. Magee (61) was detained. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) appeared in June.

Mr Magee, who denied the allegations, was suspended from the party.

In a statement on Monday, the PSNI confirmed it was investigating after receiving a report of inappropriate messages five months ago.

“Security assessments and discussions with other regulatory bodies were being carried out at the time,” a spokesman added.

Mr Magee has been a Belfast City councilor since 2014 and represents the Oldpark area in the north of the city.

On Sunday evening, Sinn Féin president Declan Kearney said his sentence was handed down “without prejudice” and the party whip was also removed from him.

Mr Kearney added that details had been passed on to social services and the PSNI in line with the party’s child protection policy.

Belfast City Council’s chief executive was also informed.

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Lawyers acting for Mr Magee said he “absolutely” denied allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

KRW Law said its clients had submitted a 12,000-word, 38-page rebuttal to the complaint to the local government Ombudsman in Northern Ireland.

The law firm said the complaint against it was “malicious, selective and edited a significant portion of messages sent and received over a three-month period.”

“The complainant acknowledges that he was advised by unknown and unnamed consultant(s) in the preparation of his complaint.

“Our client claims that there is not a single line that could be considered inappropriate in the messages sent to him.

“Our client looks forward to being exonerated and having his reputation restored.”

Sinn Féin declined to comment further on Monday, saying the allegation was “under active investigation by the appropriate authorities”.

The Northern Ireland Local Government Standards Commissioner’s office confirmed it had received a report of a possible breach of the code of conduct and said “the allegation is currently under investigation”.

The KRW Legal statement also said Mr Magee did not warn Sinn Féin about the complaint because he believed it had no merit and that the matter would be resolved quickly once all the facts were revealed.

His suspension is the latest in a series of controversies that have affected the party over the past six weeks.

Concerns about the Sinn Féin leadership’s handling of child protection crises have dominated the news agenda on both sides of the Border.

Stormont Opposition leader SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said the Magee case “underlines the need for continued transparency”.

“I would not wish to comment on the details of this case, the allegations are being discussed and the councilor in question has the right to have that process respected until an outcome comes to fruition,” he said.

“But when there is more detail and in the context of the allegations, I still think it is useful for us to understand that Sinn Féin has been fully institutionally informed on this matter.

“In the context of how information was shared within Sinn Féin and whether this was dealt with quickly and transparently – a concern that has been raised repeatedly – ​​the legitimate question to ask is, was anyone in the party aware of this allegation?” and was there an investigation by the local government Ombudsman when it was first carried out?”