A west Belfast man has secured a fresh investigation into his complaint about police interview conduct after the Police Ombudsman’s Office agreed to quash its own earlier report.

Sean Carlin, aged 46, brought a judicial review challenge against the watchdog body, arguing that it had unlawfully dismissed his grievances about how forensic evidence was presented to him during questioning by the PSNI.

Mr Carlin was prosecuted after cocaine was found in a car stopped more than two years ago, but was formally acquitted at Belfast Magistrates’ Court earlier this year when no evidence was offered against him.

He has previous convictions for flag offences linked to INLA commemorations.

In his complaint to the Ombudsman, Mr Carlin alleged that the forensic evidence concerning the seized drugs was misstated in interviews, and that he had been misled. In an affidavit filed for the judicial review, he claimed officers were eager to secure a conviction because of his republican political beliefs, adding that while he did not confess to crimes he did not commit, he could imagine how such conduct might affect others less confident or more suggestible.

A Police Ombudsman report issued in December 2025 dismissed all aspects of his complaint. Lawyers for the Ombudsman’s Office have now consented to an order quashing that report, and the office has indicated it intends to carry out a fresh investigation of all matters raised.

Speaking after the outcome, Mr Carlin’s solicitor Owen Beattie said his client had been entirely vindicated in taking legal action against the Ombudsman and would fully engage with the new investigation.