Shirley McKie case: The 15-year-long legal battle that put forensic science in the dock

Published on Thursday 15 December 2011 00:00

It was the case that put Scotland’s justice system in the dock. Shirley McKie was the police officer wrongly accused of leaving her fingerprint at a murder scene.

The case, which began almost 15 years ago with the murder of Marion Ross, cast doubt over the reliability of fingerprint evidence.

Miss Ross was found dead in her Kilmarnock home in January 1997 and Ms McKie, then a detective constable with Strathclyde Police, was involved in the murder investigation

She was accused of lying under oath after fingerprint experts identified a print found at Miss Ross’s home as belonging to her. But Ms McKie denied being at the scene.

During the trial of the man accused of the killing, Ms McKie, from Troon in Ayrshire, insisted that the print, known as mark Y7, could not have been made by her, remarks that led to her being charged with perjury,

However, she was found not guilty and went on to win £750,000 in an out-of-court settlement from the then Scottish Executive. She had been suing the Executive and the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) for damages.

At the time the Scottish Executive said it had been an “honest mistake made in good faith” that the print, found on the bathroom door frame in Miss Ross’s home, had been identified as Ms McKie’s.

The case also had implications for David Asbury, the man jailed for life for Miss Ross’s murder. Fingerprint evidence had been crucial in the case against him, and after Ms McKie was acquitted of perjury the Crown did not oppose his appeal, leading to Asbury being cleared of carrying out the killing.

The Shirley McKie case has now been examined in depth by not one but two inquiries.

While the Labour-Liberal Democrat Executive resisted calls for a public inquiry into the case, MSPs on a Holyrood committee carried out their own investigation.

In February 2007 members of the Scottish Parliament committee that examined the case concluded there were “fundamental weaknesses” in Scotland’s fingerprint service.

The year-long inquiry also led to MSPs flagging up concerns about the high levels of sickness in the Glasgow fingerprint bureau where the experts who had the disputed print as belonging to Ms McKie had worked, and about frequent changes of personnel high up in the organisation.

Just days after the publication of the Holyrood report Scotland’s top lawyers voiced their concerns about the impact of the case on the justice system.

The Faculty of Advocates said “public confidence in the criminal justice system has been damaged and may continue to be so unless a public inquiry is held”.

In its 2007 election manifesto the SNP pledged it would establish such an inquiry. In March 2008 Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced that Sir Anthony Campbell would chair this. And yesterday Sir Anthony presented its findings.

Katrine Bussey

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