Chief Constable says he recognises 'gravity' of PSNI data breach

The Chief Constable has said he recognises "the gravity of the situation" in regards to the PSNI data breach.

In a statement following a meeting of the Policing Board Simon Byrne said he recognised the "challenges ahead."

He was speaking after an independent end-to-end review into the circumstances of the data breach was announced.

Mr Byrne said the review led by Assistant Commissioner O'Doherty from City of London Police "will provide answers to questions."

He also said he was "grateful for the support of the board" and thanked officers and staff who were dealing with the breach.

Northern Ireland Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner said: “This breach and the subsequent breaches have damaged the reputation of the service and impacted the confidence of officers, staff and others in the service’s ability to protect personal information.”

She said the board retained the confidence of the board, describing exchanges as "crunchy" in Tuesday's meeting.

“It’s been a long day,” Ms Toner told reporters after the meeting, adding that a “wide range of issues” were discussed.

“It was constructive, proactive. Yes, it was certainly crunchy. There’s no doubt about that.” Ms Toner added: “The chief constable’s continued leadership has not been called into question by the board at this time. “That’s the position of the board at this point in time.

“It’s not that confidence can change, and as I said it’s not an open cheque book, as we say. “But we need to focus on systems now, not on individuals.”

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