An SDLP MLA has said that if it can be proved that PSNI officers had not acted on information relating to Saturday's double rape of a 15-year-old English girl officers should be "disciplined".
The girl was subjected to two brutal rapes in the early hours of Saturday morning as she walked along Blacks Road with three male friends. Armed with a screwdriver, the rapist carried out the depraved attack in the forecourt of the BP garage before taking the victim across the road to the grounds of the Colin Valley Golf Centre where he raped her a second time. The second thug used a metal bar to batter the three boys accompanying the teenage girl.
Alex Attwood was speaking after it was revealed on Tuesday's Stephen Nolan show on BBC Radio Ulster that two separate callers had phoned police on Saturday about the rape but the information was not acted on. One of the men also emailed the Andersonstown News.
Mr Attwood said, "This is a horrific crime and nobody anywhere, whether in the police or in the community, should leave any stone unturned in the quest to bring these people before the courts. If these allegations are verified, the officers involved should be disciplined and it should be done quickly.
"However, I must add that anyone in the community, or in a political party, that isn't acting on information they may have is equally at fault and must also be held accountable for what they are failing to do."
The first man who rang the radio show said he had phoned Grosvenor Road police station with his information.
The caller said, "They said that they weren't dealing with it and put me through to Lisburn. The guy got back to me a couple of minutes later and said, 'They are busy at the minute, can I take your details.' I said certainly and gave him my name, address and telephone number.
"He said they would get back to me as soon as they could, and I am still waiting."
The second caller, a taxi driver, said he had received information from a passenger in his car.
"The young fella [a taxi passenger] actually described one of the assailants, he actually named him," he said.
"He told me the area that one of these people were from and gave me a full description. So I immediately came home and rang Woodbourne barracks," he said.
Both callers to the show, who wished to remain anonymous, said the PSNI had yet to call them back by Tuesday – a full 72 hours after they had contacted the PSNI.
PSNI Chief Superintendent Ken Henning said an internal police investigation will take place if it is found that PSNI officers did not act on information about the rape.
"If we find that somebody mislaid this information and didn't deal with it and was neglectful in doing that, then, yes, it is very possible that I may ask our own internal investigation branch to come in and take it over from there."
However, Sinn Féin councillor Michael Browne said the news was of some concern.
"Obviously this is a matter of concern, however, the priority at the minute is ensuring that those responsible for this brutal attack on these four young people are caught," he said.
"That is where the focus should be at the moment and these more recent concerns will have to be addressed at a more appropriate date."
