MSPs to call in police officers at centre of spying rule breaches

The officer who heads up Police Scotland’s counter corruption unit will be called to appear at the Scottish Parliament over the force breaking new rules on intercepting communications.

Holyrood’s Justice Committee have agreed to call in Chief Superintendent Clark Cuzen, as well as three of his colleagues at the centre of breaches identified by the official surveillance watchdog.

An evidence session, which follows another with Scotland’s most senior officer as well as Justice Secretary Michael Matheson earlier this week, is expected to take place on January 12.

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Giving evidence on Tuesday, deputy chief constable Neil Richardson claimed he had been portrayed as an “archetypal villain playing fast and loose with the rules” after police breached guidelines on intercepting communications in an effort to identify journalists’ sources.

Richardson, who is designated chief constable until Phil Gormley takes over on January 5, told the Justice Committee that the breaches identified by the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office (IOCCO) were the result of a “misinterpretation of new legislation”.

IOCCO last month confirmed Police Scotland breached the watchdog’s code of practice on five occasions while seeking communications data.

Richardson told MSPs authorisations for communications data had been sought in connection with information that had been leaked during a live murder inquiry - understood to be an investigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell in 2005 - to a retired police officer.

Introduction of new guidelines three weeks earlier had been at a “very aggressive” pace while the detective superintendent tasked with signing off on three of the most significant authorisations had not yet received formal training and made “an error of judgement”, the deputy chief constable said.

“This is an extremely experienced officer that tried his level best to apply the regulations and what was required of him and in so doing misinterpreted the requirement and allowed the authorisations to go ahead which then subsequently was identified by the inspectors as being wrong,” Richardson told MSPs.

The detective superintendent, named as David Donaldson, will be invited to give evidence in the new year, along with a detective inspector working within Police Scotland’s counter corruption unit, Joanne Grant, who signed off on the remaining two authorisations flagged up by IOCCO.

Detective Superintendent Brenda Smith, the senior responsible officer charged with ensuring Home Office guidance is appropriately distributed within the force, will also be asked by MSPs to come to Holyrood.

Richardson said that changes implemented since the breaches were identified mean that there will be no instance where a department or unit can authorise activity related to their own request.

He told MSPs that the notion the CCU – a unit established in 2013 to tackle corruption both within the police service as well as the wider public sector in Scotland – is “running amok here doing inappropriate action just simply isn’t accurate”. 

“What has surfaced over a number of months now are a series of accusations and newspaper headlines that have built a picture which bears little resemblance to the facts or the reality of this,” he added.

“I know there is a lot of commentary about the CCU and what they’ve done and indeed up to and including me as some kind of archetypal villain that is playing fast and loose with the rules. The reality of this is very different.”

However, justice spokeswoman for the Scottish Conservatives, Margaret Mitchell, accused the deputy chief constable of using “smoke and mirrors of a 22-day old new code of practice guidelines that somehow someone couldn’t interpret”.

IOCCO said that the “failures identified can properly be viewed as reckless”, however Richardson clashed with Elaine Murray MSP and convenor Christine Grahame over its definition in the circumstances.

Richardson said he had been given a definition of "reckless" in a paper from IOCCO, which he was unable to provide to the committee because of any cases that could be brought before the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. Grahame said MSPs would take steps to ensure they see the document. 

Lib Dem MSP Alison McInnes claimed he was seeking to “minimise” the breaches, while independent MSP John Finnie said Richardson had “failed” in his responsibility to ensure compliance.