McGrail satisfied whistleblower investigation was ‘at all times taken seriously’

Former police Commissioner Ian McGrail on Friday said he was satisfied that a police investigation into allegations that whistleblowers were incentivised to provide evidence to the McGrail Inquiry had “at all times been taken seriously”.

He was reacting to news that the Royal Gibraltar Police had closed the whistleblower investigation after it uncovered no evidence meeting the threshold for criminal prosecution for misconduct in public office.

Mr McGrail said the suggestion there had been witness inducement “was not plucked from thin air” but, as was heard during the Inquiry’s public hearings, arose from high level official information he had received from the RGP in early 2021 and which had been shared with the then Governor, Vice Admiral Sir David Steel.

“At the time Mr McGrail was hard at work preparing for the Inquiry and this information came to him as a shock, given the implications for him personally and to the integrity of the Inquiry,” the former Commissioner said in a statement issued through his lawyer, Charles Gomez.

“It had the effect of distracting him from that preparation and caused him natural anxiety.”

“The matter was therefore officially reported to the Inquiry, and it was the Inquiry that tasked the police to carry out an investigation.”

The investigation was led by former Police Service Northern Ireland [PSNI] Senior Investigating Officer John McVea.

Mr McVea, a retired Detective Chief Superintendent, led the Serious Crime Branch at the PSNI, including counter terrorism investigations in Northern Ireland, and had also been head of the force’s Professional Standards Department.

Mr McGrail noted that Mr McVea had great experience in complex cases with access to high level UK technical and police resources.

“At no time did the investigators express a view that the concerns that had been shared with the then Governor lacked merit,” he said.

The matter was also validated by the National Crime Agency and by a UK King’s Counsel with expertise in complex fraud.

The length of the investigation – three years and eight months – and the resources and expertise deployed to it underscored the gravity with which the RGP treated the allegations, Mr McGrail said.

“In the circumstances, Mr McGrail is satisfied that the investigation has at all times been taken seriously and that best resources have been applied to it over a long period of time and he would like to thank the RGP and the other relevant entities for their diligence,” the statement said.

Mr McGrail added, however, that as a citizen of Gibraltar he remained concerned about agreements entered into by the Chief Minister that involved public money and positions, adding he expected the Principal Auditor to investigate the matter.