Chief Constable Simon Byrne's career hangs in the balance this morning as he faces his second Policing Board emergency meeting in a little over week.
There have been calls from unionists for the policing head's resignation amid the fallout from latest in a series of controversies to engulf the PSNI.
A damning court ruling on Tuesday that found two junior officers were unlawfully disciplined for making an arrest at a commemoration for those killed in the Sean Graham's bookies massacre on Belfast's Ormeau Road came just weeks after a series of data leaks cast doubt over Mr Byrne's leadership.
High Court judge Mr Justice Scoffield said the pair were disciplined in the aftermath of the February 2021 incident to allay a threat that Sinn Féin could withdraw its support for policing, an assertion yesterday rebuked by the party's policing spokesman.
Gerry Kelly said: "At no stage during any calls to, or meetings with, senior PSNI officers did I suggest or insinuate that Sinn Féin would withdraw support for the rule of law or policing, or remove our members from the Policing Board."
The North Belfast MLA said his party's focus was "to ensure that our policing service is fair, impartial, efficient, effective and accountable".
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But DUP Policing Board member Trevor Clarke, who has led calls for Mr Byrne to quit, said Mr Kelly's intervention "doesn’t resolve the questions facing both the chief constable and Sinn Féin".
"We will never know exactly what was said during the calls or meetings between Sinn Féin representatives and senior PSNI officers on that day," the South Antrim MLA said.
"The overarching issue is why the chief constable felt Sinn Féin’s support for policing was so tenuous that he needed to sacrifice the careers of two officers."
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie also signalled a lack of confidence in the PSNI leadership but said the chief constable's resignation wouldn't "necessarily fix" wider issues in policing.
Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister said calls for Mr Byrne's resignation were premature, while the SDLP's Mark H Durkan said public confidence in policing "continues to ebb away".
The latest controversy stems from action taken against two officers following the arrest of Mark Sykes, a survivor of a UFF gun attack on the Sean Graham bookmakers shop in 1992 in which five people were killed.
Police challenged those attending a memorial event amid suspicions that the size of the public gathering breached coronavirus regulations.
Mr Sykes was handcuffed and arrested in chaotic exchanges captured on social media.
The incident sparked criticism of Mr Byrne, who earlier this week said he accepted the court's findings.
