THE BLACKLIST Support Group today announced that it intends to make a formal submission to the Metropolitan Police calling for an investigation into the destruction of documents and computer files by multinationals involved in the blacklisting scandal.
High Court orders have resulted in retrieved computer records from construction firms only recently being disclosed to the lawyers of blacklisted workers. This previously hidden evidence indicates that computer hard drives were destroyed, email accounts were deleted and correspondence was shredded by companies appearing in the High Court litigation.
Witness evidence and documents provided by Ian Kerr (chief executive of The Consulting Association) to a Select Committee investigation indicate that over 90% of the paperwork held by the blacklisting body was burnt on a bonfire and instructions were given to destroy other evidence. The destruction of the documents and computer files occurred at the same time as the ICO was carrying out an investigation, a criminal trial was taking place, hundreds of Employment Tribunal cases were still live, cases were submitted to the European Court of Human Rights and a High Court group litigation trial was being prepared.
Now the newly disclosed evidence is available to blacklisted workers, it is felt that there is a strong case that the course of justice may have been deliberately perverted. A dossier is being compiled for legal opinion before considering pressing for the DPP to charge individuals involved with the Consulting Association and possibly the CEOs who sanctioned their illegal activity. Perverting the course of justice is an indictable criminal offence without statute of limitations. If a person is found guilty of concealing evidence sentencing guidelines suggest a two year term of imprisonment.
Dave Smith - the Blacklist Support Group secretary commented:
'The pieces in the jigsaw are now coming together, albeit many are lost forever. The stench of corporate wrongdoing is no longer a moral issue but potentially a serious criminal offence. We will be doing everything in our power to make sure the police and the DPP take this matter seriously. The rich and powerful may think they are above the law but blacklisting will not be covered up like Saville was. Whatever the outcome in the High Court, our dossier will be handed into the police. If senior individuals gave orders or knowingly colluded in destroying documents that anyone could have predicted would undoubtedly have been used as evidence in numerous legal proceedings, they need to be held to account for their actions.'
Howard Beckett Legal Director at Unite said:
'The reason given by the defendants for poor disclosure is to openly admit to a corporate policy of ensuring the destruction of documents. Their attempts to deny meaningful levels of compensation and to deny conspiracy allegations rely upon the lack of records. Multiple legal cases became inevitable the very day that the Consulting Association was established, let alone the day it was raided. People clearly felt their actions were unlawful, why else the secrecy and why else routinely destroy documents. The Consulting Association was a secret conspiracy and Cullum McAlpine, a named defendant was at the core of it. McAlpine is determined to avoid giving evidence at the High Court but for the sake of justice, he needs to now confirm he will appear to finally allow the victims of blacklisting to ask how far this conspiracy goes.'
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