Former council chief executive 'was denied a fair trial' over Freedom of Information conviction
A former chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Council found guilty of deleting an email to prevent Freedom of Information disclosure is set to claim she was denied a fair trial, the Court of Appeal heard today.
Anne Donaghy, 56, has launched a legal bid to overturn her conviction related to correspondence about post-Brexit border checks at Larne Port.
Her appeal is expected to be heard in February next year.
Donaghy, of Clonmore Road in Dungannon, faced prosecution over an email sent back in 2021 to Arlene Foster, the Democratic Unionist Party leader at the time.
It featured the contents of an earlier letter to the Cabinet Office in London expressing concerns around administration of the Brexit treaty, the Northern Ireland Protocol and alleged threats to council workers.
Donaghy was said to have forwarded the letter to a number of senior DUP representatives, including a personal email address for Mrs Foster.
Days later the Council received a Freedom of Information (FoI) Request from a journalist asking for correspondence related to alleged threats to staff over the NI Protocol.
The request was refused on the basis of health and safety, and confidentiality grounds.
Donaghy subsequently appeared at a Stormont Committee where MLAs questioned her on the letter and about seeking the views of DUP politicians but not those from other parties.
During her trial at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court it was claimed an apparent crisis meeting took place at her house in June 2021 ahead of an internal council investigation.
She was said to have been under mounting political pressure at the time she allegedly instructed the email to be deleted.
Defence lawyers argued she had not acted because of a perception of being too close to the DUP, but instead due to concerns about a personal email address leaking into the public domain.
Ultimately, however, Donaghy was convicted on two charges of deleting an email and procuring the deletion of an email to prevent disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
She was fined a total of £1,500 for the offences.
With Donaghy’s legal team now disputing whether the guilty verdict was “correct in law”, they have raised issues around her right to a fair trial.
Barrister Michael Chambers KC told the Court of Appeal today they are seeking to establish that the basis for the conviction was contrary to Article 6 of the Convention on Human Rights.
Further issues relate to the exact wording of the charge and how much Donaghy knew about the FoI request.
During the preliminary hearing Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan made an order, by consent, compelling the trial judge to state a case for consideration on a point of law.
She also provisionally listed Donaghy’s appeal for a full hearing on February 18.