THE Police Ombudsman has said she believes there was a "corporate failing" on the part of the PSNI before the murder of Denis Donaldson.
Mr Donaldson was shot dead in an attack two weeks after a report appeared in a Sunday newspaper, which included a picture of him standing outside a cottage where he was staying in Co Donegal.
In her report Marie Anderson said that days later the "PSNI received information indicating that Mr Donaldson may be at increased risk as a result of the ‘Sunday World’ article.
"The intelligence was general and did not identify a specific or imminent threat. PSNI shared this information with their AGS (Garda) counterparts on the date it was received," she said.
Speaking to the Irish News last night Ms Anderson said she believed there was a "corporate failing" by police.
"Well, I am very clear about what the corporate failing by PSNI was, which was after the publication of the Sunday World article, this should have prompted PSNI to conduct new and fresh risk assessments in relation to the increased threat," she said.
"It's my view that although Denis Donaldson was in Donegal PSNI continued to have Article Two obligations (right to life), legal obligations in respect of his safety.
"I felt a formal risk assessment should have been carried out."
It has also emerged that some relatives asked Ms Anderson not to publish her full report yesterday.
Ms Anderson said she took legal advice on the matter but said she concluded that "it was in the public interest that I publish the report in full."
The PSNI said it would take time to review the report.
"We have reviewed our operational policies and service procedure regarding the management of threats to life, and will continue to do so on a regular basis," PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Mark McEwan said.
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