Grandfather claims harassment
The head of a well known republican family in Derry have claimed the PSNI are harassing his 18 year-old grandson and has called for it to end.
Charlie McSheffrey, whose son, Edward, an IRA member, was killed in an explosion in 1987, claimed that his grandson is regularly getting stopped and searched by the PSNI when he goes into the city centre.
Mr McShreffrey said he experienced harassment from the police and British army 40 years ago but said young people today should not have to go through the same thing.
“It happened to me many years ago, then it happened to my son and his generation.
“But now the war is over and it should not be happening to younger people,” he said.
“My grandson is 18 years-old and is not involved in anything. He is not even political at all. But every time he goes into the town he gets stopped by the police.
“It is happening to his friends too. I can’t see any reason for it and think it must be because of his name,” he said.
The 77 year-old also claimed the PSNI attempted to recruit his grandson to provide information on dissident republicans. “He was arrested recently in connection with an attack on the police in Creggan but he was released without charge.
“He told me that they only asked him one question about the incident and spent the rest of the time asking him about various different people and trying to get him to provide information but he isn’t involved in anything like that and has no information to provide,” he said.
Mr McSheffrey called on the Policing Board to ask question about how potential informers are recruited.
“I thought we had left these kind of things behind in the past. It shouldn’t still be happening.
“I would like the Policing Board to be asking questions about this and I want my grandson to be left alone.
“People need to be asking questions about these activities. They have no place today; times have changed,” he said.
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Weather for Derry
Saturday 25 May 2013
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 9 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South west
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Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South west
