Ex-IRA chief's son claims he was assaulted by policeman

national | crime and justice | other press Sunday December 13, 2009 19:44 by Ardoyne Republican

The son of a former IRA commander is demanding that a police officer be sacked after he allegedly assaulted him and sprayed CS gas in his face in a confined space.

The son of a former IRA commander is demanding that a police officer be sacked after he allegedly assaulted him and sprayed CS gas in his face in a confined space.

Martin Óg Meehan from Ardoyne in north Belfast has met investigators from the police ombudsman's office about the incident in which he claims he was punched in the head.

Meehan said that after the incident, despite repeatedly asking for a doctor, he was denied access to one and made to stand handcuffed in a police car park for four hours.

He claimed that when the police doctor eventually saw him, he said his blood pressure and heart rate were dangerously high and he instructed Meehan be taken to hospital immediately.

A PSNI spokeswoman said she couldn't comment on the incident because it was being investigated by the ombudsman. Meehan suffers from a hereditary heart condition which killed his father Martin Snr (62), two years ago.

Meehan is a member of both the Republican Network for Unity and Concerned Families Against Drugs (CFAD). Meehan said blank shots had been fired at the house of fellow CFAD member Sammy Cusack, and Meehan and two others were travelling to the house when they were stopped by police.

"I was sitting in the back of the car. The policeman asked me my name under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act. Then he said, 'Get out of the f***ing vehicle, and if you don't get out, I'll take you out.' I was taking my seat-belt off when he reached into the car and punched me in the side of the head. My glasses came flying off. The cop then sprayed me in the face with CS gas. He issued no warning."

Meehan claimed regulations advised that police should issue warnings before spraying CS gas and also that it shouldn't be used in a confined space like a car.

"The policeman wasn't under any threat and couldn't have thought he was. I was sitting down, he was standing looking in at me." Meehan said he was then arrested.

He said he had told the ombudsman's investigators that the officer involved in the incident should be sacked.