Solicitor Michael Brentnall

The Police Ombudsman has said that the owner of a controversial social media account about police work has “no obvious links” to the force.

Michael Maguire's office formed the view last month in response to a complaint by a west Belfast man.

A Twitter profile, which alluded to being a PSNI officer or official, has recently been removed.

The account, which used the handle DonYeeoo, often featured information about PSNI operations.

The ombudsman has said that Wordpress blog operated under the DonYeeoo profile also has no links to the police.

That account carries a series of profiles of serving officers and a detailed account of a drugs raid.

A series of pictures appear to show a police briefing room and a raiding party carrying battering rams.

The investigation into who was behind the Twitter profile was launched by the ombudsman earlier this year after a west Belfast man was arrested during an operation on the Falls Road.

It was later claimed that information relating to the man turned up on the account while DonYeeoo appeared to have knowledge of attempts by the man's legal team to establish if he was a police officer.

An ombudsman official said: “It has been confirmed the owner of the accounts is not a police officer nor do they have any obvious links to anyone within the Police Service of Northern Ireland”.

The ombudsman's office offered no indication of who was behind the profile or if the person involved has a role that does not fall under their remit.

On the Wordpress account the author claims they do not speak on behalf of the PSNI.

“I am not an individual but a parody that speaks about ongoing issues within Northern Ireland,” the author said.

A solicitor for the arrested man, Michael Brentnall, last night said he was asked to complain to the ombudsman “after a number of comments containing private information were placed on Twitter immediately after, and in relation to his arrest”.

Last week Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton confirmed that the “PSNI is examining material posted on other social media accounts by a number of individuals and are undertaking investigations to establish if the individuals are all serving officers”.