Lawyers representing four of the core participants in the McGrail Inquiry have now delivered their closing submissions to judge Sir Peter Openshaw.
The Chairman said it was an opportunity for all the lawyers to put their views to the Inquiry, and propose recommendations which could be included in his final report.
Tomorrow, the judge will hear from the lawyers representing Mr McGrail himself, as well as the Government parties.
'Unlawful'
The Police’s lawyer in the McGrail Inquiry, Nick Cruz, has told the Chairman there's been a wrongful process to remove a commissioner of police.
Nick Cruz said the process to remove Ian McGrail in 2020 was unlawful, irrespective of whether confidence had been lost in him.
He said those responsible for applying checks and balances failed to do so.
'Absences'
Meanwhile, Paul Richardson's lawyer, Patrick Gibbs KC, told the Inquiry that former Government Legal Advisor, Lloyd DeVincenzi, was the pivotal witness in this matter, as he was the voice of Conscience.
Mr Richardson was the Police Superintendent leading on Operation Delhi.
His lawyer said Mr DeVincenzi saw the conflicts and the red lines to which all others were blind, and prompted the Attorney General to act accordingly.
Mr Gibbs said the absence of messages, the lack of a straight answer by the Chief Minister on whether he knew Hassans Partner James Levy KC was a suspect, and the absence of any notes or records of meetings should be considered by the Chairman when reporting on his findings.
'Acknowledged'
And the Police Authority's lawyer, James Neish KC, said if there ever was evidence of a conspiracy to remove the Commissioner of Police, the GPA was not a knowing participant.
Mr Neish said members of the Authority had minimal funding, training and resources, and the onerous responsibilities were discharged by willing volunteers, who found themselves in the middle of a crisis in 2020.
He said the Chairman, Joey Britto, had held his hands up and acknowledged the procedural flaws and errors made by the GPA.
'Blunder'
The lawyer for the former Operation Delhi Defendants, Ben Cooper KC, described the decision to proceed with search warrants as a monumental blunder for the Royal Gibraltar Police.
Thomas Cornelio, John Perez and Cain Sanchez were originally charged with conspiracy to defraud, but the case was discontinued. The men maintain their innocence, and Mr Cooper described them as men of good character whose reputation had been tainted by a flawed investigation.
Mr Cooper said an independent investigation was unable to establish whether the alleged security grid hacks might have been legitimate system administration, and suggested the police had allowed themselves to be influenced by the business interests of James Gaggero.
He said Mr McGrail's day books, the most contemporaneous evidence regarding Operation Delhi, had gone missing and had never been found, as had a hard drive containing RGP data.
Videos at link above.
The McGrail Inquiry wants the Chief Minister to clarify why he has not disclosed any personal messages after September 2019 between him and James Levy KC.
This was revealed by the Counsel to the Inquiry just before proceedings came to a close.
Julian Santos made three brief points, including this update on Fabian Picardo’s text messages with the Hassans Senior Partner.
Video at link above.
In his closing submission, the lawyer for Ian McGrail claimed the events that led to the early retirement of the former police commissioner point towards political corruption.
Speaking for over two and a half hours, Adam Wagner accused the Chief Minister of breaching the boundaries that prevent politicians from interfering with police investigations. And, he said Fabian Picardo was helped by those who should have acted as institutional guard rails.
Adam Wagner said the oral evidence heard throughout the Inquiry supports his team's claim in their opening statement; if there hadn't been a search warrant for Hassan's Senior Partner James Levy KC - then none of the events that followed would have happened.
He said Mr Picardo pulled out all the stops to protect his friend and mentor.
Video at link above.
The lawyer for the Government parties, Sir Peter Caruana, has told the McGrail Inquiry the former Commissioner chose to retire early because he knew the Governor had lost confidence in him, and rejected the accusation that there had been any improper pressure on him to abandon a criminal investigation.
Sir Peter said the Commissioner's retirement had not halted Operation Delhi, which had reached its natural conclusion without any interference from the Chief Minister or anyone else.
He also rejected the accusation that the Governor had been manipulated by the Chief Minister, saying it was implausible that the Foreign Office, whom Nick Pyle was reporting to, would have allowed any such manipulation.
The Chief Minister, the Government, the then Governor and the Attorney General are known collectively as 'the Government parties' in this inquiry.
They have been represented by Sir Peter Caruana KC, whose over-arching message in his final submissions was that Ian McGrail knew the Governor would call for his resignation, and therefore chose to retire early, because he suspected he would lose his pension if he was sacked.
Sir Peter said the entirety of the Gibraltar Police Authority had unanimously reached the same decision that the Commissioner's position was untenable, which defeated the argument that Chairman Joey Britto was 'malleable'.
Sir Peter Caruana said the then Governor, Nick Pyle, was acting in accordance with his own views and was reporting to the Foreign Office, who have UK responsibility to maintain good governance in Gibraltar. He said it was simply not plausible to suggest he had been manipulated by the Chief Minister, and this was the evidence relied upon by Ian McGrail's lawyers to attempt to prove he was pushed out of office.
Sir Peter said it was irrational to suggest there was a conspiracy to remove the Commissioner in order to halt Operation Delhi - the investigation in which his friend and mentor James Levy KC was a suspect. He said the operation continued after Mr McGrail's departure, and the investigation came to its natural conclusion.
He said police officers went to execute the warrant on Mr Levy's office and home, but made their own decision not to follow through, and it was completely mischievous to link their decision to any interference.
Sir Peter said the accusation that communications with James Levy and his legal team amounted to interference were unfounded, and said Mr Picardo was entitled to be sympathetic to a close personal friend. In any case, he said, the appropriateness of this behaviour was not an issue for this Inquiry.
It’s whether this amounted to interference with criminal investigation
The Government lawyer said the Attorney General was adamant nothing had happened in the April meetings which could have been construed as interferance, and maintained both Mr McGrail, and the Investigating Superintendent, Paul Richardson, confirmed this in their evidence.
Sir Peter said the Commissioner intentionally misled the Governor as to the location of the death at seam through evasiveness and lack of candour, and argued it was his duty to provide the best available information to him.
Video at link above.
The Chairman of the McGrail Inquiry has started to write his report and hopes to have a draft by early autumn.
Sir Peter Openshaw has brought the official inquiry to an end and said he had already come to some "provisional conclusions".
The McGrail inquiry team will make public when it has sent its report to the Government.
Five weeks of evidence, two days of closing submissions - a room full of lawyers, 18 witnesses and thousands of viewers, including international interest.
Sir Peter Openshaw highlighted the importance of this being a "public" inquiry - and the key part played by the local media.
Videos at link above.
