PSNI chief says hurls are not offensive weapons

» John Hedges

An Phoblacht Editor

‘A hurl is not an offensive weapon; it’s a piece of sporting equipment and I fully understand its significance in Gaelic sport’

THE PSNI has issued an official statement saying that it does not consider hurls to be offensive weapons.

The clarification comes after Lisburn & Castlereagh Council and St Agnes’s GAC GAA coach Kevin Grieve was warned during a routine traffic stop on the Andersonstown Road in west Belfast that the hurl he had in his car was an “offensive weapon”.

Chief Inspector Norman Haslett, who has responsibility for day-to-day policing in west Belfast, posted a video on the PSNI’s west Belfast Facebook page in response to the community outcry over the PSNI action.

He speaks of how, as a senior PSNI officer in the area, he is “acutely aware” of the significance and importance of Gaelic games in the west Belfast community in terms of culture, heritage, identity and sport.

“The GAA are, in many ways, the lifeblood of the community and the service they provide is fantastic,” the senior police officer says.

“A hurl is not an offensive weapon; it’s a piece of sporting equipment and I fully understand its significance in Gaelic sport.”

A piece of sporting equipment such as a hockey stick, a golf, club, a cricket bat or a hurl could be perceived as being an offensive weapon in certain circumstances, he says, but “this was not the case in this particular incident”.

Chief Inspector Haslett apologises to the driver for any offence “that may have resulted from his interaction with police” and he invites the driver to meet him and “chat through the incident at his convenience”.