Drive for inquiry into abuse case

PRESSURE is growing for an official inquiry into the handling of an alleged child abuse case in which a judge criticised the training and methods used by a social worker and two police officers to interview a young girl.

The Scottish Conservative children's spokeswoman Liz Smith demanded an investigation into the actions of social worker Tracy Black, Detective Constable Colin Johnston and PC Susan Purnell after they performed a "damaging" interrogation and used an "unjustified" invasive medical examination of the five-year-old child.

The case concerned a man denied unsupervised access to his daughter after his wife falsely claimed he had touched the girl intimately.

While Lothian and Borders Police followed the Sheriff's advice and removed the officers from child interviewing duties, Edinburgh city council has stood by Ms Black and only removed her from the one specific case.