Solicitor tells of ordeal as murder bid trial collapses

Jul 13 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

Mr Donoghue, who practices in Consett with CKM Solicitors, was charged by police on August 27 last year. The case was halted by the prosecution at Leeds Crown Court last month after a four-day hearing.

Angus Westgarth, a solicitor who represents Mr Donoghue, said: “Mr Donoghue had not committed any offence and he had been arrested as a direct result of police misbehaviour. Certain officers, it appears, were set on ruining his career. He has been unable to work for almost a year and was not allowed to communicate with some of his clients.

“Through our extensive inquiries, we uncovered information which led us to believe that the police had departed from rules of guidance which had been in existence for over 11 years, which they ought to have known about.

“Prior to the complete collapse of the case on Thursday, Mr Donoghue had his case dismissed at a prior hearing in Leeds. It is worthy of note that he was not required to give or call any evidence on his behalf. His case was dismissed following accounts given by police officers.”

Mr Donoghue added: “I was a successful criminal lawyer in Derwentside at a relatively young age, 35 at the time, when I found myself caught up in a waking nightmare, a truly horrible situation.”

At 8am on July 1 last year, police investigating the shooting of Consett man Joe Clarke six months earlier, raided Mr Donoghue’s Shotley Bridge home. His wife Fiona, a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, was getting up to make the breakfast for their son Thomas, then three, and daughter Charlotte, 18 months.

“The children were asleep. They woke up 50 minutes later to find their home full of strangers. The police were even searching their toy boxes.”

Last week, Deputy High Court Judge Sir Geoffrey Grigson branded the conduct of police officers in the case as “cavalier” and said it had “seriously undermined the rule of law”.

The court heard that police examined confidential legal files during their search of Mr Donoghue’s home, and also eavesdropped on a conversation between the solicitor and a suspect.

The files in Mr Donoghue’s home were clearly marked and under rules governing lawyer-client privilege, should have been exempt from examination by the police.

However, officers did look through the files, including those relating to four of the defendants in the shooting case.

Four men and a woman were arrested and charged with plotting to kill Mr Clarke and of carrying out the shooting. All five were due to stand trial at Newcastle Crown Court last week but, after four days of legal argument, the judge dismissed the case and all five walked free.

The judge said: “I am unable to accept the submission that the misconduct falls into a lesser stage of seriousness, which would allow me to sanction the continuation of a trial.

“The consequences is that the proceedings against these defendants must be stayed.”

A spokesman for Durham Police said the force was waiting to receive a full judgement from the court before deciding whether to take any action against the officers involved.

A spokesman for the police watchdog, the IPCC, said last week that it was anticipated that an investigation decision would be made today.