Well, like others, I’m keeping my powder dry on all of this Downey affair. There’s a couple of pieces which are worth noting quickly. One, the vixens have dusted down their copy of jonathan Powell’s Great Hatred Little Room to bring us this:
And The Pensive Quill has this on why the PSNI may have made the mistake:
In a report, Acting Det Chief Insp Neal Graham told his superior, Det Chief Supt Howard [sic] Baxter, that Mr Downey was not wanted by PSNI, but further checks should be made as to whether Scotland Yard still wanted him.
But when Det Chief Supt Baxter reported to his superior, Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan, three days later he said only that Mr Downey should be informed he was not wanted by PSNI and made no reference to the fact that he was still wanted over the Hyde Park atrocity.
When asked about the omission, on behalf of the court earlier this year, Det Chief Supt Baxter said only that there was no statutory requirement to supply further information beyond whether he was wanted by PSNI and Mr Downey was not considered to be on the run because he was not a resident of Northern Ireland.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty