A FORMER juror’s home was bugged by police following an allegation that she had taken a bribe, a court has heard.
Catherine Leahy, 62, who was the spokeswoman of the jury that returned acquittal verdicts in the case of Graham Clarke and others accused of drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering, went on trial yesterday along with her son Joseph Leahy, 22, at the High Court in Glasgow.
Prosecutors allege that between November 2 2015 and June 2 2016 while she was serving as a juror , she and her son agreed to “receive or accept a financial or other advantage”.
Prosecutors claim that as a consequence of the two accused accepting the alleged “advantage”, Mrs Leahy agreed that she would perform her task as a juror “improperly”.
Mr Leahy is also accused of being involved in the supply of cocaine and cannabis and possession of MDMA and cannabis
Yesterday Detective Inspector Graeme Everest of the organised crime and counter terrorism financial investigations unit said the five-month long trial of Mr Clarke ended on April 14, 2016.
The following day he received a phone call from the prosecutor fiscal saying he had received an allegation against a juror in the case.
The jury was told that following a meeting with the Lord Advocate and the Lord President it was agreed to allow all the jurors details to be released and for their financial backgrounds to be investigated.
The prosecutor asked the police officer: “Did you identify the juror or jurors,” and he stated: “Yes we did. One juror - Catherine Leahy. We had very little to go on.”
Det inspector Everest added: “We needed to interview jury members and had to go to the High Court to get permission.:
The officer who has 22 years service told the court he had never heard of jurors being quizzed before and agreed with Mr McSporran it was as ‘extremely unusual event.”
The next step Det Inspector Everest said was to ask the Chief Constable and the Scottish Government to give the go-ahead for a bug to be placed in the Leahy’s Glasgow home from September 19 to 30, 2016.
Det Inspector Everest said: “We have to ensure every other line of investigation had been explored. It was a last resort.”
The court was told that 31 conversations between Leahy and her son were recorded by the hidden bug in their home.
Defence QC Thomas Ross asked the policeman: “One of the police’s objectives was the retrial of Graham Clarke,” and he replied: “It was an outcome, the objective was to get to the truth.”
Mr Ross then said: “Was the possibility of a retrial of Graham Clarke mentioned,” and Det Inspector Everest answered: “Yes, but my aim was to get to the truth.”
The trial before judge Lord Turnbull continues.
Graham Clarke and his co-accused were cleared of drugs and money laundering charges.
Clarke’s wife Lindsey was found guilty of one charge of mortgage fraud.
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