Policeman jailed for five years after hiding murder evidence

Published on 26/07/2012 00:00

A DISGRACED policeman convicted of hiding key evidence from prosecutors during a 
murder case was jailed for five years yesterday.

Richard Munro, 53, withheld vital information from officials investigating the suspicious death of Andrew Forsyth 17 years ago.

Mr Forsyth’s body was discovered on 9 November, 1995, and Munro decided that he had been murdered on 3 November.

He then changed statements given by witnesses who claimed to have seen Mr Forsyth alive after that date and failed to 
inform prosecutors about the 
information being made available to staff and officers involved in the case.

Two men, Steven Johnston and Billy Allison, spent ten years behind bars after they were convicted of murder at their trial the following year.

They were only released when appeal court judges quashed their convictions because of the dodgy police investigation.

Munro, of Dunfermline, was found guilty of intent to defeat the ends of justice following a trial in June. He was jailed for five years at the High Court in Aberdeen yesterday.

Yesterday prosecutors said they had ordered a review of evidence gathered in connection with the murder case.

A Crown Office spokesman said: “Now that the Munro trial has concluded, the Crown has instructed a review of the evidence relating to the death in the light of the appeal, the 
Carnegie Inquiry and the trial of Richard Munro.”