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49. On 30 October, Brooks and Clancy took the SIU's Intelligence Files on MacLennan and Logan to M briefed him on the contents of the files. Moor then decided that MacLennan and Logan should be targetted.
50.
and
The Prosecution File on MacLennan was opened by the SIU on 16 November. In late November, the Prosecution File on MacLennan as well as the Prosecution File on Logan, were passed to Moor. Having read the files, Moor was satisfied that there was sufficient evidence against both of them. On 30 November, he consulted the Attorney General and expressed concern over the possible political repercussions if MacLennan was to be prosecuted against the background of the Yuen Long incident. The Attorney General expressed the view that irrespective of what had happened in the past, the case should be considered on its own merits.
51.
On 3 December, the MacLennan and Logan Prosecution Files reached the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions who discussed the matter with the Attorney General. He also informed the Attorney General that there was sufficient evidence to warrant arrest and prosecution of both MacLennan and Logan. The Attorney General gave his approval to go ahead.
52.
On 3 January 1980, the Legal Department advised SIU that it was in order to prosecute MacLennan on eight counts of gross indecency. However, the arrest was not carried out immediately, because the SIU was at the time heavily committed to a number of investigations into certain procurers. On 11 January it was decided that MacLennan was to be arrested on 15 January in the office of his Formation Commander Senior Superintendent Trotman. Trotman, in turn, informed MacLennan that the SIU would interview him.
53. At that time, there were statements from eight male prostitutes (Peter, Michael, Jeff Tso, Eddie Chu, Bobby, Lula, Jimmy, Wicky Kwok) implicating MacLennan. There were certain discrepancies and inaccuracies in the statements which had been duly taken into account by the SIU and the Legal Department.
54.
It has been suggested that there was an inordinate interest on the part of certain police officers in MacLennan. It is clear to me that the SIU and some other members of the Police Force had maintained what has been described at the hearings as an inordinate interest in John MacLennan since the 1978 Yuen Long incident, well before MacLennan became a "target" in October 1979. This inordinate interest in MacLennan may be detected as a thread which runs through most of the events that culminated in the arrest action to be carried out by the SIU. It is this inordinate interest which explains, at least in part, the allegations of selectivity which has been the subject of much debate, to wit, that MacLennan was "selected" for investigation.
55.
Brooks and Quinn were certainly interested. Blackburn and Mansell were sufficiently interested to ask for a vetting. The minor information (“snippets") that went up the chain of command to Clancy and Moor was a clear indication that some senior ranks in the Force were interested.
56.
To the extent that the interest persisted for over a year and filtered through some of the more senior members of the Force, it was inordinate, particularly having regard to MacLennan's junior rank and the relatively minor offences of which he was suspected. The inordinate interest could be attributed to two reasons:-
(a) the resentment against MacLennan because, it was claimed, he had been disloyal in fighting the termination of
his contract with assistance coming from outside the Police Force; and
(b)
a quite human and natural interest or curiosity in someone who had succeeded in "beating the system" by enlisting outside help or an interest in a Police Officer who had earlier been investigated for suspected homosexual activities.
The first interest was clearly improper; the second interest was not improper. Neither necessarily led to sinister conduct. Insofar as the first interest was a motivation for the investigation of MacLennan, it was an improper motivation. The second interest was not improper as a motivation.
57. In my view, the interests of Brooks and Quinn in MacLennan were of the second type up to the time of the vetting exercise. With the Raymond Lam incident and the minor information on MacLennan, they believed that MacLennan was probably homosexual and began to develop a resentment against MacLennan, hence their pressure on Fulton, the motivation of which was improper.
58.
The interest of Blackburn in MacLennan was probably a mixture of the two types of interest with the second type being more predominant. The result of the "vetting" was in any event a negative finding and the Personnel Wing took no further action.
}
59.
The interests of Moor and Clancy were of the second type.