I was with Ross at time of shooting, says friend of Orkney killer

Published on Thursday 20 November 2008 22:30

POLICE are investigating claims from a woman that she was with the man jailed for murder on the night a waiter on Orkney was shot.

Former soldier Michael Ross was jailed for life last month for the murder of Shamsudden Mahmood in Kirkwall in 1994.

But it emerged yesterday that a woman has now claimed that she was with Ross at the time the crime was carried out.

Amelia Swanney, 27, says she and Ross were friends and that they were talking on a street in Kirkwall at the time of the shooting.

The environmental consultant, who is now based in Aberdeen, said: "If how I remember it is right, then there is no way Michael could have done it, because he was in the gardens speaking to us at the time. I have always remembered it that way. I have never remembered it any differently and it has stayed in my head for that reason, because it's a memorable night."

She said a 100,000 reward offered for information which could prove Ross's innocence was not her motive for coming forward.

She added: "I have known the Rosses for a big part of my life. I wouldn't profit out of what they've gone through."

A police spokesman said: "Northern Constabulary is making inquiries with the person who has come forward. The solicitors acting for Michael Ross have also been notified."

Ross, 30, was just 15 when he burst into the restaurant and shot 26-year-old Mr Mahmood.

The case against him was brought to court after Northern Constabulary carried out a cold case review in 2007.

He was jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow last month.

The murder was the first on Orkney for 25 years and the guilty verdict brought a 14-year mystery to an end.

In June a jury found Ross guilty of murder by a majority verdict after a six-week trial.

During the trial, the prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence which it said formed a "compelling, unanswerable case" against him.

They said Ross, at the age of 15, was racist and these extreme views drove him to hunt down and murder one of the island's few Asian residents.

The jury had heard how around the time of the crime Ross had been heard to say "blacks should be shot and have a gun put to their head".

Police later recovered a cadet-style notebook belonging to Ross which contained a swastika and anti-English slogans.

One of the key witnesses was Michael Ross's father, Eddie Ross. Mr Ross, 57, was a serving police officer at the time of the murder and had been stationed outside the restaurant after the killing.

He was imprisoned for four years for attempting to pervert the course of justice and later lost his job with the force.

The conviction related to a box of ammunition of the type used in the shooting which Mr Ross snr had in his home.

In his plea in mitigation, Donald Findlay, QC, told the court that Ross, a former Black Watch sniper, continued to protest his innocence and his conviction had come as a "great loss" to his family and country.