David McConaghie arrested over David Simpson office 'toilet camera'

David McConaghie David McConaghie was arrested and released pending further inquiries

A former adviser to an MP has been arrested after a recording device, believed to be a camera, was found in the toilets of his constituency office.

David McConaghie is also a member of the Free Presbyterian Church and a prominent spokesman for a religious foundation.

He had been an election agent for David Simpson, the DUP MP for Upper Bann.

His solicitor said: "Mr McConaghie has not been charged with any criminal offence."

Mr Simpson said: "The police are currently investigating issues pertaining to an individual brought to their attention by myself.

"I no longer employ this individual and he does not hold any office in the party. No further comment will be made on the matter."

Mr McConaghie was employed by the party, although he stopped his membership some time ago.

He had trained to become a minister within the Free Presbyterian Church, which was started by the Reverend Ian Paisley.

He had previously been a minister in the Elim Pentecostal Church.

The discovery of the recording device was reported to the police by Mr Simpson. The story emerged on Friday morning in the Belfast Telegraph.

Mr McConaghie has also been a member of the Independent Orange Order.

In a statement the police said: "On 25 September, police received a report of an incident at premises in the Thomas Street area of Portadown.

"A 47-year-old male was later arrested and has since been released on bail pending further inquiries."

More on This Story

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites

More Northern Ireland stories

RSS

Features & Analysis

Elsewhere on the BBC

  • Green city A leaf from nature's book

    Cities rely on systems which pollute our world, but that will all change in the future, writes Rachel Armstrong

Programmes

  • A graphic of a person and the Earth respresenting the world wide webClick Watch

    David Reid visits Cern to find out about the plans to restore the world's first web page

BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.