‘Abuse of state power’ inquiry call after High Court rules Rangers raid ‘unlawful’

Calls has been made for a Scottish Government review after police and prosecutors were found by the High Court in London to have “abused state powers” to carry out an illegal raid while investigating the allegedly fraudulent takeover of Rangers football club.

The seizure of company files linked to the administrator Duff & Phelps was “unlawful”, judges found, and involved sensitive papers not covered by their search warrant.

Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Mitting at the High Court said costs must be paid to London law firm Holman Fenwick Willan after the court heard Police Scotland and the Lord Advocate seized privileged documents.

Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Mitting criticised Police Scotland and the Crown Office for the “heavy-handed” way in which officers seized papers and ordered them to pay £500,000 in costs.

The judges ruled that the search warrant was of “excessive and unlawful width” and that the raid could have been avoided if the legal company had been “forewarned”.

Police had “decided to proceed without giving notice to them”, the judges found.

The ruling continues: “The search-and-seize operation was heavy handed and resulted in the seizure of both documents subject to legal professional privilege and irrelevant documents not covered by the warrant.”

The judges concluded: “The actions of the defendants were an abuse of state power.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats now say the justice secretary should look into what happened “to understand why the events took place as they did which are very concerning to the general public”.

The ruling was made after Holman Fenwick Willan sued over the seizure of documents by detectives investigating fraud allegations involving the Ibrox club and the administrators Duff & Phelps.

It comes five months after prosecutors dropped charges against David Whitehouse, 51, and Paul Clark, 52, Duff & Phelps employees who were accused of conspiring to defraud the club’s creditors.

Charges against their Duff & Phelps colleague David Grier, and lawyer Gary Withey have also been thrown out.

The administrators were based at Ibrox stadium during the takeover that prompted criminal charges against Craig Whyte, 45, the former owner of Rangers.

Mr Whyte is the only person charged in relation to his 2011 takeover and is expected to go on trial next year.

A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The Crown has taken careful note of the court’s decision. It has taken steps, and will continue to take steps, along with the police and other reporting agencies, to ensure that the appropriate lessons are learned.”

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We are aware of the court’s ruling and are working closely with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in relation to this matter.”