![]() ![]() qualified to make the decision because there was no one trained in Scots law,” said Grant. “My understanding is that there was no lawyer employed in criminal law …. However, evidence was shown to the inquiry that the subsequent decision to prosecute was made without Scottish cases being run through the Post Office’s central legal services team that advise on “sufficiency of evidence”. He said in a report following a 44-minute interview with Quarm that he had made “full and frank admissions” about using the Horizon system as part of engineering personal bank transactions and loans to support his other business. Grant moved off the case into a role he described as “gardening leave” before a decision was made by the Post Office to move to trial. Quarm, who was 66 when the case was brought against him and described as a “man of good character”, was prosecuted for embezzling funds through the Post Office branch he ran to support his loss-making grocery store on the island of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. “I still think Mr Quarm had a role to play in the loss of the money.” Jason Beer KC, lead counsel to the inquiry, asked Grant whether he believed Quarm, a father of five, was guilty even though his conviction was overturned by the Scottish high court last year. I apologise to court I do not think it was a fair thing to ask me to do in such a short space of time considering this inquiry was going on for months and years.” “I drafted the minimum statement to comply with the section 21 order. “That kind of focused me,” he told the hearing. Representatives of the inquiry chased Grant, who described them on Wednesday as having “different priorities to mine”, and eventually sheriff officers visited his house to deliver a section 21 notice forcing him to comply and appear at the inquiry. The statement filed to the inquiry was just over two pages long. He said this was an “inordinate amount” he only “glanced” at, and that he was given just 26 days to write up his witness statement. Grant said he had received 78 documents totalling 450 pages to read. “I fully understand my obligations to this important inquiry, but my time was limited.” “I chose my current job as being most important as it directly affected 20 members of staff and 29 homeless residents,” he told the hearing. Grant, a programme manager at the charity who works with homeless people, said he had been too busy with activities such as carol singing, making Christmas dinners and walking his dog over the festive period when the inquiry expected him to write up his witness statement. The statement should not contain opinion evidence.He told the inquiry on Wednesday he had a “clash of priorities” and wanted to focus on his current job at the Salvation Army.Each paragraph should contain one or more statements of fact, usually set out in the chronological order of the matters or events dealt with. The statement should cover all of the facts which must be proved at trial that are within the first hand knowledge of that witness. ![]()
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