Mid and East Antrim Council: Two prosecutions over deleted emails
Two people are to be prosecuted following a police investigation into Mid and East Antrim Council.The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) says it's linked to the alleged deletion of e-mails related to a Freedom of Information request.One person is being prosecuted for three offences under section 77 of the Freedom of Information Act.The other is facing one charge under the same act.
A total of four people were reported on a police file submitted to the PPS for consideration.In a statement the PPS said that the available evidence in relation to the other two people being investigated is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction and therefore the test for prosecution is not met.Police twice searched the council offices in October 2021 and then the following April.The BBC Spotlight programme previously reported it was connected to alleged attempts to delete correspondence relating to the decision to withdraw council staff operating under the post-Brexit trade conditions known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The staff, who were carrying out checks on goods arriving from Great Britain, were removed because of apparent threats from loyalist paramilitaries.It later emerged the then council chief executive Anne Donaghy had written to the UK Cabinet Office before the decision to remove staff was taken.She told the UK government that graffiti had been directly targeting council staff working on checks.The then Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots subsequently withdrew inspectors performing the checks at ports in Northern Ireland.However, shortly after, all staff had returned to duties with the PSNI issuing a written threat assessment stating it had no information to support claims of loyalist paramilitaries threatening staff safety.
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