Police issue apology for mother and daughter murder

Strathclyde Police has apologised for its handling of a convicted sex offender who tortured and murdered a woman and her young daughter.

Former soldier Thomas Smith, now 28, was jailed for life last year for the horrific attacks on Diane Fallon and her 10-year-old daughter Holly in Ayrshire in 2009.

The Glasgow force today released a statement which said sorry for the fact that Smith was able to commit the atrocity “while we had responsibility for managing him” and “there are undoubtedly things that we could and should have done better.”

The apology comes on the day the findings of an independent review into the case were made public.