§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Solicitor-General for what reason the Crown Prosecution Service has not taken action against a person whose name has been supplied to him on the basis of the file on his case referred to it by the Security Service. [140146]
The Solicitor-GeneralI understand that the individual to whom the hon. Member is referring is Dr. Robin Pearson, about whose case I made an announcement in this House on 20 December 1999,Official Report, columns 313–14W. On that date I informed the House that the CPS had decided not to refer the papers in the case to the police for investigation. The reason for this was that sufficient was known about the case to make it clear that any prosecution would fail. Having reached that view, it would have been quite wrong for the CPS to ask the police to undertake a criminal investigation.
In the case of Dr. Pearson, the intelligence information about his case would not have been admissible as evidence; there was little prospect of obtaining admissible evidence; and in any event any prosecution would probably have been stayed on the ground of abuse of process.
The Law Officers were consulted about this case, and we agreed with the conclusions reached by the CPS. The decision was made only after careful and detailed consideration.