Patsy McGlone 30th June 2009

MCGLONE WELCOMES CUSTODIAL SENTENCE FOR AARON HILL

SDLP Mid-Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone welcomed the nine-month custodial sentence given to former PSNI data clerk Aaron Hill, who passed information on nationalists to paramilitaries. Mr McGlone wrote to the Attorney General to protest the original suspended sentence.


He said: “In the summer of 2007 a number of people in my constituency were informed by the police that their personal details were in the hands of paramilitaries and that subsequently they and their families could be at risk.

“Following a police investigation, a data inputter with the PSNI and an associate were charged and taken to court.

“Aaron Hill was given a non-custodial suspended sentence, having pleaded guilty to collecting information which would be useful to terrorists and to charges of misconduct in a public office. Darren Leslie Richardson was found in possession of these documents and 40 9mm bullets and jailed for a year.

“In light of the seriousness of the offences and the ongoing fear caused to many innocent people at the fact that their details were in the possession of paramilitaries, my constituents and I shared a deep concern at the levity of sentence in both cases. The sentence handed down by the Appeals Court is a small improvement.”

 

ENDS 30/06/09