Spratt Slams Comments by Former Chief Constable

South Belfast DUP MLA Jimmy Spratt has slammed recent comments by former PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde on the dissident campaign in a talk at Oxford.

 

Commenting, Mr Spratt said:

 

 “Hugh Orde’s comments about the dissident terror campaign representing an acceptable level of violence are absolutely outrageous. Someone who spent any time in law enforcement should know that there is no such thing as an acceptable level of violence. People want Northern Ireland to be a violence-free country. Certainly, that is what I and my colleagues on the Policing Board are working to create: a society free from terrorism and violence.

 

It is insulting to the memory of Stephen Carroll and Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar to hear what they and their families have suffered described in such terms. The making of such comments on the first anniversary of their deaths shows crass insensitivity to the suffering of the families of these three brave men.

 

My message to Hugh Orde is clear: your comments are scandalous and out of touch with reality. Ulster people who have suffered so much down through the years at the hands of terrorists want to see terrorism utterly and completely expunged from our society”, said the DUP MLA.