Anticipation grows among Gibraltar residents for Chief Minister Fabian Picardo to testify at McGrail inquiry as key witnesses become forgetful

The McGrail Inquiry is entering its final stages with key figures revealing the events that led to Police Commissioner Ian McGrail’s early retirement – but the most important testimony is yet to come.

Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo is due to appear in court on Monday to answer a series of questions after witnesses for nearly four weeks struggled to recall events or find Whatsapps.

Attorney General Michael Llamas was rattled by intense cross-examination during last week’s inquest by lawyers representing McGrail and former Superintendent Paul Richardson.

Llamas admitted “afterwards” that he failed to advise Picardo not to get involved in a police operation involving his own business interests.

read more: McGrail inquiry: Gibraltar’s ‘most powerful lawyer’ finally takes the stand as Hassan’s senior partner sidesteps questions about missing information and casts doubt on police investigation

It is also understood that the Attorney General referred to the Royal Gibraltar Police as “clowns” and McGrail as a “bull in a china shop” when executing a search warrant against Hassan’s senior partner, James Levy.

The following week, Levy himself was heavily questioned about missing communications with the chief minister.

He told investigators his phone “crashed” and technical experts were unable to recover the messages.

And his own attorney, Lewis Baglietto, flippantly told investigators that he had “routinely” deleted his communications with Picardo in 2021 — just a year after the pivotal incident.

Not even Picardo handed over his Whatsapps with Levy, which must have been one of the first questions Adam Wagner KC and Patrick Gibbs KC were eager to ask him.

However, efforts to portray the chief minister as a participant in a criminal conspiracy failed.

In Operation Delhi, police investigated the suspected “hacking and sabotage” of Gibraltar’s border surveillance computer systems with Spain, with the suspects attempting to transfer the contract to North 36, a company part-owned by Hassan’s partners, including Picardo.

However, as chief minister, Picardo ultimately decided not to transfer the government contract at the heart of the investigation to 36 North.

Meanwhile, McGrail’s police diary, desktop computer, laptop computer and documents have not been turned over.