Officers ‘could not have predicted’ released man would go on to kill
An investigation has found officers who chose not to arrest a man could not have known he would kill his friend less than seven hours later.
Ahmed Noor fatally stabbed 29-year-old Mohsin Bhatti in January 2015 hours after he was searched by officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The PSNI had received reports that Noor had repeatedly tried to enter a South Belfast flat belonging to two women, but decided there were no grounds for arrest.
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (PONI) has now concluded that the officers acted appropriately.
Police Ombudsman Dr Michael Maguire said: “They described Noor as being agitated, confused and disorientated, but none of them considered him to represent a threat to himself or anyone else.
“Their decision not to arrest him was the right one in the circumstances. There were insufficient grounds for an arrest.
“They could not have predicted that he would go on to kill just a few hours later.”
Noor suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had been smoking cannabis in the hours before he killed Mr Bhatti in Belfast’s Botanic Avenue.
He later told a court that he had heard voices telling him that he needed to stab his friend.
PONI investigators found four officers had arrived at the women’s apartment within six minutes of receiving a call reporting a “very disorientated” man trying to enter the building.
Officers claimed Noor had appeared nervous and was rambling incoherently, and despite refusing to answer their questions he was unaggressive.
He was searched under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act but nothing was found. The officers deemed he did not pose a threat to himself or others so they had no option but to allow him to leave.
Noor was captured on CCTV footage attacking Mr Bhatti at around 5am the following morning.
He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and received an indeterminate sentence with a minimum six years’ detention.