Lockerbie bomber was 'taller and older' trial witness said

Published on Friday 1 May 2009 19:11

A "STRIKING discrepancy" undermined crucial evidence which was used to convict the Lockerbie bomber, appeal judges were told yesterday.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi had been identified as resembling a man who bought clothing which was packed into a suitcase with the bomb. But the witness who picked him out, a Maltese shopkeeper, had earlier given descriptions of the purchaser as being taller and more than ten years older.

"What we have here is a striking discrepancy," said Maggie Scott, QC, at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

She complained that the judges who convicted Megrahi at his trial in 2001 had failed to explain in their verdict how they overcame the difficulty. "There is a discrepancy, and while it is acknowledged, there is no reasoning as to how it was resolved... it remains," she added.

Megrahi, 57, is serving a minimum of 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988. He lost a first appeal, but was allowed a second by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission which believed his conviction might have been a miscarriage of justice.

A key element of the prosecution case was evidence from shopkeeper Tony Gauci, who sold clothing to a man in the weeks before the bombing. He gave statements in which he described the man as 6ft or more in height and aged about 50. In 1988 Megrahi was 5ft 8in and 36.

Mr Gauci had looked at photo-spreads and rejected them because the people were too young. He did the same when shown a spread which, for the first time, included a photograph of Megrahi. "Unlike before, he was told to look at the photos again. It was a clear message that there is something there to be found," said Ms Scott.

At the trial, Mr Gauci was asked if he could see the man who bought the clothing and he pointed to Megrahi, and said: "He resembles him a lot."

The trial judges said his identification should be treated as "a highly important element".

The hearing continues.