Expert tells of dismay at McKie print mismatch

Published on Tuesday 22 September 2009 22:10

A US expert told how he got a "gut-wrenching" feeling when he realised a fingerprint at a murder scene did not appear to match that of a policewoman accused of leaving it.

Texan Pat Wertheim was called to give evidence yesterday at the opening of the second phase of an inquiry into the Shirley McKie fingerprint controversy. Former policewoman Ms McKie, from Ayrshire, was accused of leaving her fingerprint at the home of a murder victim in Kilmarnock in 1997.

The print was identified by officers with the Scottish Criminal Records Office, but other experts disagreed that it proved a match.

A public inquiry began in June to address questions over the steps taken to identify and verify the fingerprint, known as "Y7".

Mr Wertheim, giving evidence in Glasgow yesterday, was called to examine the mark in 1999. His detailed notes were shown to the inquiry, chaired by former appeal court judge, Sir Anthony Campbell.

Mr Wertheim, who has trained FBI personnel, said he got a "gut-wrenching" feeling when he realised that the print and that of Ms McKie, a former detective constable with Strathclyde Police, did not appear to match.

He added: "I realised when I was taking notes that in 100 years, no erroneous detection of this magnitude had been made in the UK."

Ms McKie was tried for perjury following the Marion Ross murder trial, but was later acquitted. She then raised an action for damages and, in 2006, was awarded 750,000 in an out-of-court settlement for an "honest mistake".