Former murder squad detective: I was proud to serve in the police for 30 years…right up until my bosses spied on me

A former murder squad detective has accused his bosses of trashing his reputation after launching an unlawful molehunt for journalists’ sources.

David Moran, who had more than 30 years service before retiring from Police Scotland earlier this month, breaks his silence today to demand a public apology from his former force.

He was secretly targeted by a controversial internal affairs unit after being wrongly suspected of passing information to journalists.

The Counter Corruption Unit seized his private phone records after suspecting he was behind reports revealing a forgotten suspect in the 2005 investigation into the murder of Emma Caldwell.

Mr Moran, 54, a former detective inspector, said chiefs’ immediate reaction to find the source of the reports rather than reopen the murder investigation was wrong but predictable. He said: “As they did in the Emma Caldwell case, they put the blinkers on.

“I think it was motivated by a desire for revenge against who they thought had leaked the information.

“Working on murder inquiries, I would not dream of breaking the regulations and law that they did. It’s scandalous.”

Attempting to discover the journalists’ sources, police failed to get a judge’s permission before seizing the phone records of two former officers and two serving officers, including Mr Moran.

The molehunt was later heavily criticised and branded “reckless” by watchdogs at the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s Office.

Mr Moran said: “My worry is now that I have retired from the police and am seeking other employment that my reputation remains tarnished.”

He not only blames the CCU, currently under investigation after being accused of going over the top in their pursuit of officers, but says some of the force’s most senior officers also have questions to answer.

Assistant Chief Constable Ruaraidh Nicolson, now retired, was in charge of Strathclyde CID when Emma was killed and had been promoted to Assistant Chief Constable when the reports were published on the tenth anniversary of Emma’s death in April 2015. Mr Nicolson later gave evidence to a Holyrood probe into the scandal and insisted no specific warnings had been given to suggest the spying operation was unlawful. This claim has since been questioned by other officers.

Mr Moran said: “It was a clear conflict of interest. He should never have been there.”

Mr Moran remains furious at the evidence given by another of the force’s most senior officers to MSPs. Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson, now retired, told MSPs the leak inquiry was focused on a “serving officer in the murder squad” which, Mr Moran believes, could mean no one but him.

Moran said: “I was sick to the stomach. He as good as identified me. My integrity was being utterly impugned. He hung me out to dry and then disappeared into the sunset.”

Moran believes he was suspected of being the leak because he was friends with Gerry Gallacher, a former police officer whose investigations had uncovered the forgotten suspect.

He said: “I declared my association with Gerry immediately after the article was published.

“I said I didn’t know anything about the story and had no detailed knowledge of the case.”

Durham police were asked to investigate the CCU spying operation.

Mr Moran has still to see their 140-page report but Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick apologised to him at a private meeting and also by letter.

However, Mr Moran wants Police Scotland to make the letter made public.

He said: “I am extremely disappointed at not having a public apology. The whole problem with Police Scotland is the lack of accountability.”

In June last year the Crown Office refused to investigate Police Scotland’s unlawful hunt for journalists’ sources after the Sunday Mail’s reports into Emma Caldwell’s murder.

A separate investigation into allegations of serious misconduct by the CCU is being carried out by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Mr Moran said: “According to Police Scotland misconduct regulations, the person conducting a misconduct inquiry must be independent of everything that went before.

“They’re saying Durham weren’t independent of everything that went before because they had carried out an investigation. To me, it is high farce.”

The then-Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland later ordered the reopening of the murder inquiry but no one has been charged more than two years later.

Detectives leading the new inquiry met Emma’s mother, Margaret Caldwell, last week but told her the new investigation, reopened in May 20015, was likely to continue for several months.

Meanwhile, Police Scotland are also investigating the original murder investigation that led to the arrest of four Turkish men, later cleared.

Chief Superintendent Alan Speirs, of Police Scotland, said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is conducting an independent misconduct investigation on behalf of Police Scotland following the conclusion of Durham Constabulary’s inquiry into complaints about Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act procedures and associated matters.

“Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton from PSNI has been appointed as the Investigating Officer. As such it would not be appropriate to comment further until this investigation has concluded.”

Neil Richardson, who now works for a charity, refused to comment.