QC cost Police Scotland £14,000

POLICE Scotland spent almost £14,000 securing a Hillsborough inquest QC to represent the force in the scandal over illegal spying on the suspected sources of journalists.

Jeremy Johnson had represented West Midlands Police during the inquests into the deaths arising from the Hillsborough disaster.

It came after anticorruption officers at Police Scotland illegally used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act in a bid to flush out a newspaper’s confidential sources.

It follows a newspaper story on shortcomings in the original investigation into the killing of Emma Caldwell. The force wrongly believed serving and former police officers had played a role in the leak and tried to track them down.

A hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal deals with complaints about the misuse of covert techniques by public bodies. The tribunal was a “remedies” hearing as Police Scotland had admitted that the use of their powers had been unlawful.

According to Police Scotland, the force was was invoiced £13,785 for senior counsel’s work in dealing with the six cases, covering the period between February and July 2016.

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Douglas Ross said the force was “forever complaining” about a lack of resources. He added: “People won’t have much sympathy with that line in light of these revelations.”

A force spokesman said it needed to be “appropriately represented” and Mr Johnson had the experience to do so.