The Chief Constable has today (Saturday, August 6) written a public letter to the Isle of Pride committee, seeking to ‘reset’ the relationship between the police and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community.

In the letter, Gary Roberts ‘acknowledges that the police must always uphold the law but apologises for the way that this was sometimes done in relation to a law that at the time criminalised homosexuality’.

The police state that the 2,250 word document ‘offers a comprehensive assessment of how the police enforced legislation, which criminalised homosexual relations’.

‘It seeks to set in context how the police enforced the law and explains that police officers had no choice but to carry out the wishes of Tynwald,’ the force adds.

The full letter can be viewed on the police website at: www.iompolice.im/media/1503/letter-to-iom-pride-committee.pdf