{"id":576630,"date":"2025-11-17T18:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576630\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T18:00:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:00:34","slug":"criminal-investigation-launched-in-wake-of-presbyterian-church-safeguarding-failings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/576630\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminal investigation launched in wake of Presbyterian Church safeguarding \u2018failings\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Church \u2018welcomes investigation\u2019 and confirms they \u2018will co-operate fully\u2019\n<\/p>\n

Last week the Church\u2019s moderator, Rev Trevor Gribben, resigned over \u201cserious and significant failings\u201d in safeguarding within the church between 2009 and 2022.<\/p>\n

\"Rev<\/p>\n

Rev Dr David Allen, Acting Clerk of the General Assembly and Acting General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland with Rev Dr David Bruce (right). Pic by Liam McBurney\/PA Images via Getty Images.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference in Belfast, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said: \u201cOver the last number of days we have been working with statutory partners to formalise a co-ordinated response to address the matters that have come to light as a result of the recent announcement by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy immediate priority and that of the PSNI is the protection and the safeguarding of anyone who may have been affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that regard I have established a dedicated PSNI investigation team under the supervision of an experienced senior investigating officer from our public protection branch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis officer will lead what I can confirm today will be a criminal investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the investigation would also seek to establish if criminal offences had been committed by those responsible for safeguarding in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI would confirm this investigation will seek to establish victims of offending and the perpetrators and to investigate if criminal offences have been committed by those responsible for safeguarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe, of course, recognise the courage it takes to come forward with such an investigation and we want to reassure anyone affected that you will be heard and you will be supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Assistant<\/p>\n

Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck pictured during a briefing relating to the Presbyterian Church in Ireland safeguarding accompanied by Geraldine Hanna, chief executive, Victim Support NI. Picture By: Arthur Allison\/Pacemaker Press.<\/p>\n

Mr Beck said his investigation team would make sure \u201cperpetrators will be held to account\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe role of the PSNI will be to investigate all criminal offences and to work closely with statutory partners under the joint protocol arrangements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is to ensure victims can access the criminal justice process and perpetrators will be held to account.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would encourage anyone who is suffering or who is affected to speak with our dedicated investigative team who will be on hand to provide specialist advice and signposting to other key services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can speak directly to victims, I recognise that this may be difficult and you may not be ready. That is OK. We want to hear from you, you will be treated with sensitivity, with respect and with professionalism.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Monday 17 November <\/p>\n

\u201cPSNI is appealing to anyone who wishes to make a report or indeed to disclose information to contact police directly on our line 101 or through our dedicated email address.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the police briefing, a spokesperson for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland confirmed they welcome the investigation and confirmed they would \u201cbe co-operating fully with it\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving been informed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland that they have launched a criminal investigation we welcome this believing it will provide a thorough, trusted and transparent outcome,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

“We will co-operate fully with the investigation. We will make available all relevant files, reports and information to assist police with their inquiries.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a consequence of the PSNI\u2019s announcement today of their investigation we will not be able to make any further comment related to the inquiry or aspects pertaining to it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Church \u2018welcomes investigation\u2019 and confirms they \u2018will co-operate fully\u2019 Last week the Church\u2019s moderator, Rev Trevor Gribben, resigned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":576631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[6722,1144,1610,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-576630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-christopher-leebody","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115566348654216442","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}