Ms Laura Galligan:

I cannot comment specifically on that point. When I look at the classification and see that homicides are misclassified as non-crime or non-fatal incidents, I question why they are classified as such. An interpretation of the crime counting rules would say that if investigators have a reasonable probability that they have a homicide, then a homicide investigation is usually initiated and should be recorded as a homicide.

Obviously, we have not seen the investigation files in any of the 41 cases, although going forward we will be part of the review team, but it is important that we see the files from an analytical point of view in order that we can give our expert view on them. We never claim to be investigators. We raised the issue because the issue was there with the classification, which would also raise concerns as regards the investigation.