HISTORY was made in the Court of Session yesterday when two members of Scotland’s judiciary appeared as witnesses to give evidence in the case of Rangers administrator David Grier against the Lord Advocate and Chief Constable of Police Scotland.
In a legal first, High Court judge Lord Mulholland and Sheriff Lindsay Wood of Glasgow both appeared online before Lord Tyre yesterday morning in the case in which Grier is suing Lord Advocate James Wolffe and Chief Constable Iain Livingstone for a total of £7 million over his arrest that followed the collapse into administration of Rangers in 2012.
The ongoing Rangers cases are already the most expensive loss by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal service (COPFS) as administrators David Whitehouse and Paul Clark have already been paid £24m in damages and expenses after Lord Advocate Wolffe admitted they had been maliciously prosecuted.
It was his predecessor Lord Mulholland who, as Frank Mulholland QC, had been the Lord Advocate when the prosecution was initiated against Grier, Clark, Whitehouse, Rangers’ chief executive Charles Green, club director Imran Ahmad, and former club owner Craig Whyte.
Grier’s lawyer Andrew Smith QC questioned Sheriff Wood over the granting of a warrant to police officers who were investigating Grier on December 4, 2015.
The Sheriff had given written evidence to the Court that “I was not aware that a High Court indictment had been served on the accused.”
In court yesterday he confirmed his earlier statement that “if I had that knowledge I would not have granted the warrant”.
Lord Mulholland told the court about his time as Lord Advocate, the chief prosecutor in Scotland, and said that Jim Keegan QC was appointed as an “embedded” crown counsel to act independently and take charge of the Rangers case prosecution.
Asked about his involvement in the prosecution by Smith, Lord Mulholland said: “I didn’t have day-to-day involvement in it, but I was available.
“At an early stage I appreciated that this would be a high-profile investigation and criminal case, and I wanted to make sure that the prosecution team who were preparing the case were, firstly, fully resourced, and secondly that they had the availability of guidance.”
He added that he had had to approach the Scottish Government for extra resources for the inquiry. The investigations ended with only Craig Whyte put in trial for fraud and he was found not guilty.
Smith mentioned remarks made by judge Lord Malcolm that as Lord Advocate, Mulholland’s hands had been “on the tiller”. He said: “As I understand it was being represented within Lord Malcolm’s court on behalf of the present Lord Advocate, that your hands were on the tiller throughout.”
Lord Mulholland replied: “It’s not a phrase I would use, hands on the tiller.
“The direction of the prosecution, the tiller, was run by Jim Keegan and by the prosecution team. I had a supervisory role.”
In mid-session, the court was told of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh but Lord Tyre continued with the case as Lord Mulholland was nearing the end of his evidence.
On being informed there were no further witnesses, Lord Tyre adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.
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