Belfast firm KRW LAW said it has been instructed by four current or former officers, including one identified only as “Sean”.

“Sean” was recently interviewed by the Belfast Telegraph about his experience as one of the first Catholic recruits when the PSNI was established.

He has instructed the firm to issue High Court civil proceedings for damages in relation to the discrimination he alleges he suffered throughout his 20 years of service in the PSNI.

Solicitor Kevin Winters said: “This wasn’t an easy decision to make for ‘Sean’ to make, given the well-documented difficulties he experienced throughout his time in frontline policing.

“However, on balance, he feels compelled to take this case, if nothing else than to put a marker down.

“He sees his case contributing to opening up the debate on residual sectarian attitudes which still unfortunately permeate the PSNI.”

Mr Winters added: “Significantly, he’s not the only Catholic officer doing so. I can confirm this is the fourth such case we’ve been instructed in over the last nine months.

“The common thread running through each of the case details relates to embedded cultural sectarianism, some of which is at a low level but in other instances is quite significant.

“I have to state that in each case there’s an understandable hesitancy about venturing into legal action of this nature.

“Litigation generally can be fraught enough as it is without the added difficulties of both institutional pressure to keep quiet and risk of harm.

“I commend “Sean” and the other officers in having the bravery to step forward.

“As understandably stressed by senior police personnel, as a proportion of the overall numbers in policing we are talking about an extremely small number of complainants.

“However, four officers serving or otherwise shouldn’t find themselves in 2025 having to take cases of this nature. It’s four too many.”