Annex 126
Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
on Standards and Privileges from Digby Brown, solicitors
SUZANNE
HILLIARD
We act for Suzanne Hilliard. We have received a copy
of your letter to her of 26 June.
On behalf of our client we would like to clarify
certain matters. The first relates to the question of the telephone
accounts. At the relevant time, our client was living in a flat
which had a payphone. There were other people living in the flat,
and our client did not know who, if anyone, was the account holder.
No accounts were received, certainly not by Ms Hilliard. She does
not know the identity of the telephone company, though assumes
it is BT.
On 7 April at her interview with the Commissioner,
Ms Hilliard was asked whether she could obtain duplicate telephone
bills, having already advised the Commissioner that she did not
have them. She agreed to try and do so. She made enquiries and
found that she could not obtain these as the phone was a payphone.
She advised the Commissioner of this on 18 April. The Commissioner
has subsequently asked for further information, which has been
provided.
The extent of any "undertaking" given by
Ms Hilliard was simply to make enquiries in relation to duplicate
bills. This she did. In any event, our client does not see what
the particular significance of the account is. She assumes that
this is to demonstrate her contact with Dr Reid. Ms Hilliard has
made it clear during the course of this investigation that it
was Dr Reid who invariably contacted her. This is contained within
her statement, and within the transcript of her interview.
Our client has cooperated fully with the Commissioner
in this enquiry. She has provided a comprehensive statement as
well as attending for interview in London, and answering further
queries. The interview and further enquiries have been dealt with
in a particularly difficult period of our client`s life, as she
has just completed sitting her Finals examinations at Strathclyde
University. She is concerned at the suggestion made by the Commissioner
that she has not been co-operative. We share that concern, and
indeed have general concerns about the way in which the Commissioner
has conducted herself with Ms Hilliard.
We trust that this explains her position and if you
wish any further clarification, please contact us.
4 July 2000
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