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UNITED KINGDOM NORTHERN IRELAND January 31st 2006 After police secretly taped conversations between him and his clients Manmohan Sandhu , a solicitor based in Limavady arrested Law Society of Northern Ireland expresses concern that Mr Sandhu's private conversations with his clients were bugged http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4685668.stm

On 31 January 2006, Manmohan Sandhu , 41,a solicitor based in Limavady was arrested and held at Antrim Police station. A court gave detectives a further 36 hours to question him.

His lawyers claim he was arrested after police secretly taped conversations between Mr Sandhu and his clients.

Mr Sandhu's solicitor, Joe Rice, wrote to the Law Society - the body which represents the legal profession - to complain about how, he claims, the police gathered evidence by covertly taping confidential conversations.

Mr Rice alleges the conversations, allegedly taped at Antrim police station, led to Mr Sandhu being questioned about serious terrorist activity including membership of a loyalist paramilitary organisation.

Limavady solicitor being questioned by police about serious crime has spent five nights in custody. On 7 February, he was granted bail in the High Court.

Mr Sandhu has been charged with attempting to incite a murder, and with four charges of perverting the course of justice. Two of these charges related to the police inquiry into the UVF murder of Jameson Lockhart last year. Mr Sandhu is accused of attempting to frustrate the investigation into Jameson Lockhart's murder by making a telephone call requesting that someone whom the police wanted to talk to be "taken offside".  He is also accused of taking steps to prevent police taking possession of mobile phones during the investigation into the attempted murder of Jonathan Hillier last August, and of attempting to incite an unknown person to murder Mr Hillier.  Mr Sandhu pleaded not guilty to the charges, whilst Rory McShane and John Bailie, the president and chief executive of the Law Society of Northern Ireland have met with Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde to express their concern that Mr Sandhu's private conversations with his clients were bugged. It is alleged that other lawyers’

consultations with their clients which were said to have no connection with Mr Sandhu may also have been recorded.

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