Northern Ireland

Sir Hugh Orde says HET should have been allowed to finish its work

Former Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said the Historical Enquiries Team should have been allowed to finish its work. Picture by Hugh Russell
Former Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said the Historical Enquiries Team should have been allowed to finish its work. Picture by Hugh Russell Former Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said the Historical Enquiries Team should have been allowed to finish its work. Picture by Hugh Russell

FORMER Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde has said that had the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) not been closed down, it would already have completed its review of all unsolved Troubles killings.

The unit was set up in 2005 under the then PSNI chief in an effort to address the legacy backlog.

At first welcomed by families, a critical inspection report in 2013 cast doubt on the future of the cold case team and police announced the following year that financial pressures would force its closure.

The Inspectorate of Constabulary report found that the HET examined killings involving state forces with "less rigour" than others.

Mr Orde had stood down as Chief Constable in 2009 and his replacement Matt Baggott accepted the report.

But speaking to The Irish Times, he said he is "still furious" that the HET was closed.

Mr Orde said because the team was working chronologically, as it began to look at more recent killings the chances of achieving prosecutions were greater.

"It’s the only thing I really got angry about in policing," he said.

"If I had been there when the report came out I would have called a press conference and thrown it in the bin on live television.

"I would have said, ‘Now what are we going to do? We are going to keep going. Take me to court if you want.’ We would have finished it.

"The ultimate success of the inspectorate's report was to stop the one thing that was trying to do its best to do something about the past."

The remit of the HET was to review 3,500 Troubles-related killings and prior to its closure it had worked through 2,000 cases.

Dealing with the legacy of the Troubles remains a contentious political issue.

Among current proposals being considered is a new Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) that has divided both victims' groups and politicians.

Mr Orde said: "The notion that even further down the line that the HIU is going to bring any satisfaction of any nature through a judicial nature is absolutely bonkers.

"There is less chance now, not more. All they are going to do is raise false hope among families that something is going to happen."