Salmond challenges ministers over McKie

Published on Sunday 28 May 2006 00:24

SNP leader Alex Salmond has accused ministers of a "failure of duty" for refusing to disclose all they know about the Shirley McKie fingerprint scandal.

In a letter to Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson, Salmond calls on the Scottish Executive to release all reports they hold on the case, which they have so far withheld.

Two reports by forensic expert John MacLeod into the McKie case and other documents have been called for by the Parliament's Justice 1 committee, which is holding an inquiry. But Jamieson has refused to oblige, quoting the convention that documents prepared for legal cases are not revealed.

The reports are seen as crucial to getting to the truth of the case, as they will show what ministers knew as the affair evolved.

McKie, a former police officer, was awarded 750,000 in damages by the Executive earlier this year after being wrongly identified as having been present at a crime scene. In a nine-year battle to clear her name, she was arrested and accused of perjury before ministers attempted to draw the matter to a close earlier this year.

However, the unanswered questions in the case have led to a parliamentary inquiry which will this week hear from the four fingerprint experts from the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) who initially identified McKie. They still maintain their identification was correct.

Last week, fresh doubts were cast over the competence of the SCRO when it emerged that experts had wrongly identified another print last year.

Salmond said the fact that the reports remained secret strengthened the case for a full judicial inquiry. "Despite the best efforts of many of the MSPs on the Justice Committee, there are clear limitations to their investigation. Scotland deserves better than this sacrifice of our nation's legal reputation to protect the backs of Executive ministers."