Under inspection
Sir: Oh dear, Neil Hamilton clearly did not listen to Sir Humphrey during his time at the DTI ('Why I was furious with Mr Hes- eltine', 20 June). Had he done so, he would know that the sole purpose of an inspection under section 177 of the Finan- cial Services Act 1986 (Insider Dealing) is not, as he puts it, to establish whether there is 'enough evidence to justify a pros- ecution'.
An insider dealing inspection is a fact- finding inquiry whose main purpose is to determine whether there has been a con- travention of part V of the Criminal Jus- tice Act 1993. If the answer is in the affir- mative, the Secretary of State will then consider whether or not the evidence is such as to warrant a separate criminal investigation, which may or may not lead to a prosecution. DTI inspectors are not prosecutors.
Penny Rector
2 Paper Buildings, Temple, London EC4
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