McGrail report to be published at 3pm on Tuesday

The McGrail Inquiry Report will be published at 3pm on Tuesday.

The Government says this is now possible after a verdict was returned in the Deaths at Sea Inquest, and with the Chief Minister having sufficiently recovered from eye surgery.

It says the report will be posted on the Government website.

Coinciding with this, the Chief Minister will make a ministerial statement, to be broadcast live on GBC.

The long-awaited result of an almost four-year process will be able to be seen by all from Tuesday.

The McGrail Inquiry was called in February 2022, to look into the circumstances surrounding the early retirement of the former Police Commissioner in June 2020.

In April 2024, the main hearing was broadcast live on GBC Television - five weeks of evidence, from witnesses including Ian McGrail himself; the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo; and Attorney General, Michael Llamas.

Last month, the report by Chairman, Sir Peter Openshaw, was delivered to the Government; Number Six has said it is over 700 pages long.

Advance copies were provided electronically and confidentially to 34 individuals, as well as the RGP, the Police Authority and the Governor - and, to GBC and the Gibraltar Chronicle.

Its publication was then delayed twice. The first time was because the Chief Minister had to undergo emergency eye surgery for a detached retina.

The second, because of concerns by the Deputy Coroner that the report could influence the jury in an inquest into the deaths of two men in a collision with an RGP vessel in 2020, while Mr McGrail was still Police Commissioner.

That inquest ended on Friday: and now, the Leader of the Opposition has also been provided an advance copy of the report, and the clock is ticking down to 3pm on Tuesday, when it will be published on the Government website.

At the same time, Fabian Picardo will give a ministerial statement, which will be broadcast live as part of a special GBC News bulletin.

You can tune in at 3pm on Tuesday on GBC Television or Radio Gibraltar Plus.