PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher welcomed the investigation being carried out by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.

Jon Boutcher said the organisation ‘will do everything necessary to deal with such issues’.

Jon Boutcher said the number of officers in the PSNI from a Catholic background ‘isn’t good enough’.

The Chief Constable faced questions at the Policing Board following the publication of the Operation Kenova report into the agent Stakeknife.

Darragh Mackin and Peter Corrigan of Phoenix Law said privacy is not a price they should have to pay for doing their jobs.

Amnesty International has said the report ‘exposes a disturbing pattern of unlawful covert surveillance of journalists’.

But PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said there was no intelligence to suggest it was sanctioned by the organisation’s leadership.

Eugene Thompson has died in the Mater Hospital in Belfast.

Eugene Thompson’s brother Paul was killed by loyalist paramilitaries in 1994.

They are due to appear before Derry Magistrates’ Court later.

There will be ‘a large policing presence across Northern Ireland’ over the weekend, a senior officer has said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying four men as part of a probe into disorder in the region.

The scenes in the Co Armagh town came after three consecutive nights of trouble in Ballymena, Co Antrim

Elsewhere, a leisure centre in Larne was set on fire.

A fire broke out at Larne Leisure Centre following vandalism at the facility, amid several nights of disorder in Northern Ireland.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force would be bringing extra officers, vehicles and equipment to areas where unrest has flared.

Police said their officers came under sustained attack over a number of hours in the Co Antrim town

The review was carried out after the material was discovered last year.

The PSNI has launched a recruitment campaign as the chief constable said he wants the force to grow to at least 7,000 officers

A Garda car, buses and a Luas tram were set on fire during the riot

Unlike other parts of the UK, the PSNI does not issue mugshots of serious offenders after sentencing

Davy Beck, Ryan Henderson and Melanie Jones have all previously served as temporary ACCs in the force

The Assembly Commission said it moved to cancel the Stormont access pass for the former press officer this week.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson accused the republican party of trying to ‘shut down’ questions over the issue.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher insisted his force has full confidence in the judiciary.

The officer required hospital treatment following the incident on Thursday night.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said police intend to send ‘an incredibly clear message about these issues’.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland, which represents rank and file officers in the region, reacted angrily.

The UK prime minister met frontline officers who dealt with violence that erupted following anti-immigration protests in Northern Ireland

Jon Boutcher told the community in a YouTube video that every PSNI officer ‘is here to look after you’.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly called for a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to racism and destruction.

The First Minister said she spoke with PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher about ‘facing down racism’.

The PSNI chief constable urged people to push back against the ‘poisonous nonsense’ spread by those seeking to demonstrate against the Islamic faith.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher answered questions about the case at the Policing Board monthly meeting.

The PSNI Chief Constable was appearing before the Policing Board.

An Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard claims the PSNI undertook six-monthly trawls of the phone data of ‘troublemaker’ journalists.

The Policing Board leadership said Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has been told the claims were causing damage to policing.

An Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard claims PSNI undertook six-monthly trawls of the phone data of ‘troublemaker’ journalists

Katie Simpson’s murder was originally thought by police to have been a suicide.

The chief constable said in recent weeks a number of legacy inquests have had to be stopped by a coroner due to matters relating to sensitive information.

Kenova was a major investigation into the operation of the British Army’s top agent inside the IRA, headed up by Mr Boutcher before he left to take up the PSNI role last year.

The agent in the internal security unit of the IRA is widely believed to be Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci.

It is understood that the person rumoured to be the agent, Freddie Scappaticci, will not be named in Friday’s report.