§ 44. Mr. WATTasked the Lord Advocate whether his attention has been called to a prosecution recently instituted by his Department against a solicitor in Glasgow for reset; whether the transactions out of which the charge arose took place with the concurrence of the police and sixteen months before the arrest; if so, what was the cause and who was responsible for this delay; is he aware that the indictment consisted of three charges, two of which were at once abandoned at the trial and the third of which speedily broke down; and will he say whether anyone has been admonished or dismissed in connection with this prosecution?
§ The LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. Munro)I am acquainted with the circumstances of the prosecution referred to by my hon. and learned Friend. The transactions on which the charge was founded took place about sixteen months before the arrest. The refusal of witnesses who knew the facts to submit to precognition by the Procurator-fiscal, the absconding from justice of one of the parties involved, and the complicated character of the investigations required, made it impracticable for the arrest to take place sooner. The transactions referred to were not carried through with the concurrence of the police. The only police officer who gave any countentenance to them was the ex-detective, against whom proceedings were also taken. The indictment contained three charges, none of which was abandoned. The first charge was directed against the solicitor, the ex-detective referred to, and a third person who had absconded. The other two charges were directed against the last-named alone. Against that person sentence of outlawry was pronounced. On the first charge, after evidence against the solicitor and the ex-detective, they were acquitted by the jury following the ruling of the presiding judge. The answer to the last part of the question is in the negative. The prosecution was undertaken on the intructions of Crown counsel, which had my approval.
§ Mr. MUNROThe Chief Constable, on my information, gave no possible sanction to the action of the ex-detective.