§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what grounds the documents and diaries of Mr. Gerald James, the former chairman of the British Manufacturing and Research Company, were taken by the Ministry of Defence police; what information of relevance was gleaned from them; when they will all be returned to him; and if he will make a sttement.
§ Mr. SoamesIn April 1990 as part of a wide-ranging MOD police corruption investigation, the BMARC premises at Grantham were searched with the consent of the managing director of Astra Holdings, the parent company of BMARC. At the time of this search, Mr. James had ceased to be employed by BMARC/Astra Holdings.
Documents were found in the office that Mr. James had previously occupied. These were handed over to MOD police by the financial director of the company. On examination, they were considered to be relevant to the police inquiries. In 1993 at the conclusion of all aspects of the MOD investigation, the documents were returned to Astra Holdings' officially appointed receiver, Cork Gully.
These documents were considered to be company documents and at no time were any documents taken into police possession directly from Mr. James.