Justice Committee to look at illegal police spying activity

The Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office (IOCCO) said this week that the single force breached the Acquisition and Disclosure of Communications Data Code of Practice 2015 in regards to five applications for communications data.

The breaches were made by the Counter Corruption Unit (CCU), headed up by deputy chief constable Neil Richardson – one of the candidates to replace Sir Stephen House as chief constable.

It was claimed the unit began looking for a source following media reports of police failings that occurred during the murder inquiry of Emma Caldwell in 2005.

Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes MSP said: “Following outrageous revelation, I wrote to the convenor of the justice committee to ask that the justice secretary and chief constable be called to account for their actions.

“I’m very pleased the committee will be looking into what happens next. This was a violation of human rights that can never be allowed to happen again.”

She added: “Next week I shall be repeating my calls for the chief constable and justice secretary to appear before the committee and asking when the Scottish Government knew about this.”