Informer's 'weapons planting' claims investigated

Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson said the claims must be investigated

The police ombudsman is to investigate claims by a west Belfast teenager that police had asked him to plant weapons on a neighbour's property.

The man told the Irish News that while under arrest for shoplifting, officers said they would drop the charges if he monitored a number of people.

He also said they wanted him to join a dissident republican group and plant a gun and explosives.

The paper said he made the claims after being taken captive by dissidents.

The group calling itself Ogaigh na hEireann was identified by the paper as the dissident group.

It said he was abducted by the group over the weekend, before being freed on Monday after "admitting his covert activities".

His story was reported in the paper on Tuesday.

The teenager said he was also asked by police to plant a gun in a car and Semtex explosives in a shed.

He told the paper police threatened to lay false criminal charges against him if he refused.

Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson said: "The allegations made by this young man are that at several levels police attempted to pervert the course of justice.

"The police actions must be investigated fully.

"If people are to have confidence in the criminal justice system they must be assured that the police are not above the law," he said.