Walter Finch
THE so-called McGrail Inquiry will reconvene for three days in order to address missing Whatsapp evidence that has come to light.
The spotlight will be on the RGP, with McGrail, current commissioner Richard Ullger, his assistant Cathal Yeats and key witnesses former Superintendent Paul Richardson taking to the stand.
It has been determined that further public scrutiny is required over ‘possible evidence gaps, disclosure failures and possible deletions’ in order to maintain public confidence in the Inquiry process.
The return of the inquiry has come at the behest of the Gibraltar government, who have criticised the late disclosures by the RGP and claimed the Whatsapps show McGrail was losing support among senior colleagues before his early retirement.
No dates have yet been determined for the inquiry’s return, which will cost the tax payer of £270,000, but McGrail’s legal team objected on the grounds of the toll the process is taking on their client’s health.
McGrail’s lawyer said: “This is a relief to Mr McGrail as he has nothing to hide – the messages support the position he has taken from the outset of the Inquiry, as will be seen when they are made public.
“We note that the Chairman has indicated in his ruling that none of the messages are likely to alter his core findings.”
The highly anticipated report release date of ‘late spring 2025’ will now be pushed back.
Meanwhile, the two figures at the heart of the inquiry, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and former police commissioner Ian McGrail have opened a war of words.
Picardo, in his role as main speaker at the popular TED Talks-style event, took advantage of the stage to repeat a contentious claim examined in depth during the inquiry.
“In May of that year [2020], the principal law officer of Gibraltar, the Commissioner of Police, came into my office and lied to my face,” he told the audience.
In a statement, McGrail was quick to criticise the ‘baseless and defamatory assertion’ that was examined at length in last year’s public inquiry.
McGrail’s lawyer blasted Picardo’s ‘pattern of conduct that is entirely unbecoming of a minister of Gibraltar’ and accused him of ‘showing a troubling willingness to mislead the people of Gibraltar for political expediency.’
Just hours later, Picardo released his own statement claiming he ‘genuinely believes’ McGrail lied to him and that he would ‘not be prevented from doing so by any condemnation rolled out by Mr McGrail and his taxpayer-funded lawyers.’
