Former Mid and East Antrim Council chief executive Anne Donaghy has been convicted of two charges relating to the deletion of an email to prevent its disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
Donaghy, 56, of Clonmore Road, Dungannon, was found guilty of deleting an email and of procuring the deletion of an email to prevent the disclosure of information through the Act. The case concerned an email to then first minister Dame Arlene Foster, forwarding a letter she had sent to the Cabinet Office about the administration of the post-Brexit treaty, the Northern Ireland Protocol at Larne Port, and alleged threats to council workers in 2021.
She was cleared of a third charge of attempting to delete a second email. Aaron McClelland, the council’s former director of corporate services, was cleared of a single charge of attempting to delete an email. Neither gave evidence during the two-day trial.
Fines and appeal intention
Donaghy was fined £750 for each of the two charges she was convicted of. It is understood she intends to appeal against the conviction.
Judge Alana McSorley delivered her judgment on Wednesday afternoon at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court, a short distance from the council headquarters at the Town Hall where both had worked. A number of members of the public watched the proceedings from the public gallery on Monday and Tuesday. Donaghy gave little reaction as she watched in court.
Context of the letter
The trial heard Donaghy’s letter to the Cabinet Office came amid strong opposition to the so-called Irish Sea border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain created by the NI Protocol to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland. The court heard Donaghy forwarded her letter to nine DUP representatives in early February 2021, including MPs Ian Paisley, Sammy Wilson and Jeffrey Donaldson, as well as mayor Peter Johnston.
On February 8, the council received an FOI request from a journalist asking for copies of letters sent to the UK Government about the NI Protocol and alleged threats to staff. This was refused on the basis of health and safety, and security.
Scrutiny and proceedings
In April, Donaghy appeared before the Stormont Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, where she was questioned by Alliance MLA John Blair about her letter to the Cabinet Office, and why she had sought the views of DUP representatives, but not those of others parties. In the same month, the council received another FOI request for emails concerning the NI Protocol, and in May a second FOI request from the journalist who previously made the request which was refused.
The prosecution said by the end of April, there was “increasing political and media scrutiny”, and also described how Donaghy was concerned she was being perceived as being “the DUP’s person”. In June, a TUV delegation had a meeting with Donaghy over the letter to the Cabinet Office, and Timothy Gaston was described as inquiring why it was “only sent to members of the DUP”.
The court also heard of several senior officers taking part in an apparent crisis meeting at Donaghy’s house on Sunday June 27 ahead of an internal council investigation.
Defence and judgment
Donaghy’s defence contended she had been concerned about Dame Arlene’s personal email address getting into the public domain, as there had been an issue with information being leaked from the council. However the prosecution argued an audio recording from Donaghy’s assistants’ Live Scribe pen, during which Donaghy is heard saying “Oh no” when told the FOI team had a copy of the email to Dame Arlene, indicates she had not known a hard copy of the email existed.
Delivering her judgment, Judge McSorley said the question is whether Donaghy had intended by deleting the email to erase a record. She found Donaghy had been concerned about the perception that she was close to the DUP, and was under mounting political pressure by the point she ordered her personal assistant to delete the email to Dame Arlene. The judge noted Donaghy’s response in the recording to being told of a hard copy of the email was among factors that led her to the “irretrievable conclusion” she had intended to prevent the email being disclosed.
