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Anne Donaghy, the former chief executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, is facing prosecution following a police investigation into the local authority, according to her solicitor, Kevin Winters. Winters mentioned that Donaghy is expected to be charged with three counts under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act and other legislation, while another individual is facing one charge under the FoI Act. The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) had previously announced that two people were being charged in connection with the alleged deletion of emails linked to a Freedom of Information request.
Despite the impending charges, Anne Donaghy has denied any wrongdoing and intends to vigorously challenge the three technical offenses brought against her. A total of four individuals were included in a police file sent to the PPS for review, but only two are facing prosecution. The evidence against the other two individuals was deemed insufficient to meet the threshold required for prosecution. Police conducted searches at the council offices twice, once in October 2021 and again in April of the following year.
The investigation is believed to be linked to efforts to erase correspondence relating to the decision to withdraw council staff operating under the Northern Ireland Protocol post-Brexit trade conditions. Mid and East Antrim Council, headquartered in the Braid building in Ballymena, had removed staff tasked with inspecting goods arriving from Great Britain due to alleged threats from loyalist paramilitaries. This decision followed correspondence from Donaghy to the Cabinet Office expressing concerns about graffiti targeting council staff involved in the checks. Despite the initial withdrawal of inspectors by then Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, they eventually returned to their duties after the PSNI determined there was no evidence to support claims of threats from loyalist paramilitaries
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