|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
UK: New head of CPS had cannabis conviction Nicholas Watt The Guardian Thursday 14 Aug 2003 Ken Macdonald, the incoming head of the crown prosecution service, was once convicted of possessing cannabis, the attorney general's office announced last night. As an 18-year-old student, Mr Macdonald was fined £75 with £5 costs after he sent 0.1g of the drug - worth 25p - through the post to a friend in December 1971. His conviction, and a speeding conviction in 2001, were known before his appointment, the attorney general's office said. In a statement, the office confirmed that Mr Macdonald had pleaded guilty to the drug charge: "The cannabis conviction dates from 1971, and has been a spent conviction since 1976. It was also declared when Mr Macdonald applied to join the bar and when he applied to become a QC, and when he was appointed a part-time judge in 2001." The Tories have criticised the appointment as Mr Macdonald is a founder member of Cherie Booth's Matrix barristers' chambers. Oliver Letwin, the shadow home secretary, said last night: "There may be public disquiet about the appointment of a chief prosecutor who has himself been prosecuted in the past. We are more concerned about the fact that ... the government has nominated somebody who has specialised in defending those accused of what he terms 'political violence'." Mr Macdonald, who recently represented one of Britain's first convicted al-Qaida terrorists, takes over the £145,000-a-year post from Sir David Calvert-Smith in November.
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!