Jon Boutcher was key player in operation that foiled huge terrorist attack in UK and US, and headed up investigation into activities of ‘Stakeknife’ in North
Jon Boutcher stepped in as interim chief constable of the PSNI in October after Simon Byrne resigned following a string of controversies. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA WireJon Boutcher becomes the sixth chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland after decades of experience in policing across Great Britain and heading an investigation into one of the murkiest aspects of the Troubles.
Among the highlights of his career are serving as a senior investigating officer for Operation Rhyme, an investigation that identified and traced a group of British men who planned mass casualty attacks in Washington, New York and Newark in the US – and also planned chemical and biological and improvised bomb attacks in the UK.
Mr Boutcher is described in police biographies as having significant experience in operational counter-terrorism, and served as the UK’s national policing lead for technical surveillance, covert policing and undercover policing – and held the post of national co-ordinator for Pursue under the UK’s Contest strategy for countering terrorism.
It was during that tenure that Mr Boutcher headed up Operation Kenova, an independent investigation into the activities of Stakeknife, the Army’s top agent in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.