Former council chief convicted of deleting email subject to FOI Act

By Rebecca Black, Press Association

Former Mid and East Antrim Council chief executive Anne Donaghy has been convicted of two charges related to deleting an email to prevent disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

It concerned an email to former first minister Arlene Foster over security concerns around the operation of the Northern Ireland Protocol at Larne Port in 2021.

Donaghy, 56, of Clonmore Road, Dungannon, was cleared of a third charge of trying to have a second email deleted.

Mid and East Antrim Council’s former director of corporate services Aaron McClelland, 49, of Clonmakate Road, Portadown, was also cleared of trying to have an email deleted.

Judge Alana McSorley fined Donaghy £750 for each count following a trial at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court.