Operation Diem – The Crown Office. The “sisting” process. Bypassing the Judicial Review.
D.C.S. Lesley Boal, was appointed lead officer of a Police Scotland enquiry furnished with unlimited financial resources to establish whether there was any criminality on the part of Mr Salmond. She had command of a team of 14 full-time experienced police detectives. The team carried out 386 interviews over a period of 2 years at the end of which Alex was charged with 14 offences of which he was subsequently cleared in the High Court.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, told Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee that: “A small dedicated team worked on Operation Diem from Fettes Police Station, Edinburgh, between August 2018 and April 2020. It was comprised of seven officers from August 2018 rising to a maximum of 14 during the months between October 2018 and July 2019 before steadily reducing in 2020. The indicative cost of this staffing profile is just over £810,000. In addition, there were non-staff costs captured in respect of operation Diem totalling just over £24,000.” And his report proved to be wishful thinking. The final cost was over £1million and only covered the police investigation.
caltonjock 