A woman who feared for her safety searched Crown Office computers for details of a dangerous criminal.
Sharon Davidson walked free from court after looking up Marius Bauba who was involved in a fight at a bar where she worked part-time.
Davidson, of Ayr, worked in an administrative role as a fiscal officer with prosecutors. Davidson looked up files on Bauba because his “terrible reputation” had left her terrified.
Police were told information on Bauba and Thomas McLean, 41, had been accessed. Davidson, 51, faced two charges of breaching the Data Protection Act 2018 by repeatedly looking up details of Bauba and McLean between November 2018 and May 2019.
At her trial at Hamilton sheriff court it was alleged that she had “knowingly or recklessly” got the data for reasons other than law enforcement purposes. But her legal team argued that her rights had been breached.
Advertisement
Davidson was questioned by her line manager Elaine Duthie, 55, but Duthie failed to tell her that she had the right to seek legal advice and had the right to remain silent. Duthie, a Crown Office business manager, said she did not know Davidson would face charges.
“I was told to ask Sharon three questions but I had no idea what she was going to tell me but when she answered I knew this was going to be serious.
“Accessing cases without a business reason to do so is a very serious matter and this meeting was a step towards a disciplinary process.
“She said she had accessed the case of Marius Bauba and gave me the background on why.” She had said that police had interviewed her and she was scared and wanted to know what was happening because Bauba had a terrible reputation.
Duthie added: “Throughout she looked shocked and anxious.”
Advertisement
Derek Pettigrew, representing Davidson, said: “I find it difficult to believe that in an office containing lawyers that it was not discussed how properly to proceed and it beggars belief that nobody thought they should be informing this woman of her rights.
“The fact she had nobody there is extremely worrying and it’s no wonder Sharon Davidson was shocked at what was happening.”
He added: “The process was unfair and anything that was said by Sharon Davidson during that interview should be inadmissible.”
Sheriff Anthony Deutsch ruled the interview inadmissible and prosecutors dropped the case. “Miss Duthie ought to have known that this would have serious implications for the accused.
“If the police had been conducting this interview with as much information as was available to Miss Duthie then they would have been duty bound to caution her.”
Advertisement
Fiscal depute Claire Rowan said: “The Crown are no longer seeking a conviction on this matter.”
Davidson is no longer employed with the prosecution service.
The Crown Office said: “We will give careful consideration to the decision of the court.”
Bauba was found dead in HMP Shotts, Lanarkshire, this year aged 28 after being convicted of killing a bodybuilder last year.