§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Attorney-General whether the Director of Public Prosecutions has taken over the private case in respect of water pollution at Camelford; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Attorney-GeneralYes. The proceedings in question were instituted (on behalf of the Bodmin Angling Association) at a time when police inquiries requested by the Director of Public Prosecutions were still in progress.
On 14 October 1989 the Director of Public Prosecutions instituted criminal proceedings for public nuisance and consequently there were in being two separate criminal cases with two different prosecutors but against the same defendant and arising out of the same circumstances. The interests of justice required that the proceedings be amalgamated, and the director used his statutory power accordingly.