A judge has concluded there was no “probable cause” to prosecute a business expert for his alleged role in a doomed Rangers fraud probe.
Lord Tyre ruled on Tuesday that prosecutors had no legal basis to bring David Grier to court following an investigation into business activities at the club.
It means his multi-million compensation bid can keep going.
Mr Grier was arrested but eventually cleared along with a number of other men during an investigation into how businessman Craig Whyte bought the Glasgow side.
Lawyers acting for the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC argued that the court should throw Mr Grier’s £5 million compensation bid out of court.
They argued that prosecutors were entitled to conclude that Mr Grier was guilty of wrongdoing during the business deal.
But now Lord Tyre’s decision allows the compensation claim to continue.
In a written judgement issued at the court on Tuesday, Lord Tyre wrote that Mr Grier’s lawyers were correct in their belief there was no ‘reasonable cause’ to prosecute their client.
He ruled that because Grier was acquitted on the basis that the fraud allegations against him were “irrelevant”, prosecutors shouldn’t have taken him to court in the first place.
The judge said that Mr Grier’s legal team still had to prove that the prosecution against their client was conducted maliciously.
He wrote: “ Where, as here, the charges were dismissed as irrelevant, it seems to me that it will normally be difficult to argue that reasonable and probable cause existed from an objective standpoint.
“A decision that a charge is irrelevant is a decision that even if the Crown were to prove all of the facts narrated in the indictment, the essentials of the criminal charge are not present.
“As a general rule, it can hardly be said, on an objective assessment, that there is reasonable and probable cause for initiating and continuing proceedings if a conviction cannot result because the circumstances averred do not, as a matter of law, amount to commission of the offence charged.
“The necessary link between false pretence and result was accordingly missing from the charge.
“It appears to me to follow from the decision of the court that, on an objective assessment, there was no ‘case fit to be put into court’.
“Nothing further is relied upon in the defences, and I accordingly hold that there is no relevant defence pled to the pursuer’s case that the prosecution was initiated and continued in the absence of reasonable and probable cause.”
Mr Grier - who has been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing - is suing the current Lord Advocate claiming that prosecutors had no evidence to justify him being arrested and charged.
Mr Grier is also suing the Chief Constable of Police Scotland for acting unlawfully when he was arrested during an investigation into wrongdoing at Rangers.
He is seeking £2 million in damages from the force.
The legal actions stems from a police probe surrounding Rangers financial position during the last decade and the sale of the club to businessman Craig Whyte.
Mr Grier was one of a number of men arrested during the investigation but subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.
The cases brought by Mr Grier come in the light of admissions made by the Crown in another case brought by businessmen David Whitehouse and Paul Clark.
Prosecutors admitted Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were wrongfully arrested and charged. Both men latter received a settlement of £10.5 million each.
Their legal costs - which were thought to total £3 million - were also paid.
Former Rangers executive Charles Green was also told he was able to receive damages after the Crown admitted it had conducted a “malicious” prosecution against him.
During submissions made it at a hearing last month, Mr Grier’s advocate Andrew Smith QC said that Crown moves to have his client’s case out of court were wrong.
He said: “There as no evidence available to bring the charges at any time and no reasonable prosecutor would ever have thought there was a fraud that had been committed - certainly not Mr Grier was aware of.”
Mr Smith said that his client had acted lawfully during his business dealings with Rangers.
The Lord Advocate’s lawyer Gerry Moynihan QC urged Lord Tyre to stop the action from proceeding.
He added: “What I submit is that to you my lord is that the Crown can have probable cause to prosecute - even in a case when the court determines against them on the facts and on the law.
“This action is irrelevant and ought to be dismissed.”
In the judgement issued on Tuesday, Lord Tyre said that Mr Grier’s legal team still had to prove the criminal case against their client was conducted maliciously.
The judge said that lawyers would have their chance to argue that the prosecution was conducted maliciously at a hearing which is expected to be held later this year.
Lord Tyre wrote: “It is acknowledged by the pursuer that a finding of absence of reasonable and probable cause does not necessarily imply that the prosecution was malicious, and that, at least on the law as currently understood, the pursuer will require to prove malice before his claim for damages can succeed.
“Dates have been reserved for a proof before answer, but
before pronouncing any interlocutor I will put the case out by order in order that parties may address me on any matters arising from this opinion.”
