Police board pushes for McKie inquiry

Strathclyde Joint Police Board agrees to petition Executive

News, 17 February 2006

The Strathclyde Police Joint Board has added its voice to calls for a public inquiry into why a former detective ended up accused of perjury.

Shirley McKie had been set to sue the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Criminal Records Office for her ordeal, but was awarded £750,000 in an out-of-court settlement earlier this month.

She had been charged with perjury after claiming in court that she had not been in a room where bank clerk Marion Ross was found murdered in February 1997. Fingerprints found in the room were alleged to belong to her, but she was later cleared of the charge.

The police board has agreed to petition the Scottish Executive for a full review of the circumstances surrounding the case. Board clerk Mike Blair said the fingerprint staff themselves wanted an opportunity to have their say.

In light of the public comments made about the case, the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd has written to MSP George Reid, the Scottish Parliament's presiding officer, setting out the specific approach taken in this case.

His letter stated that it is a fundamental principle that prosecution decisions are taken independently of the government or the Executive, and that it was up to Crown Counsel to decide whether or not criminal proceedings were justified and appropriate.

The letter went on: "In the case of Shirley McKie, the decision to prosecute her for perjury was taken by me in 1998, as solicitor general, following a report by the then regional procurator fiscal for Glasgow.

"I am satisfied that the evidence available at the time justified criminal proceedings. The evidence against her was tested at trial. There was clearly sufficient evidence in law, because the case went to the jury, who ultimately acquitted her."

The letter further states that ollowing the subsequent investigation by Tayside Police into possible offences of perjury and criminal conspiracy into the trials of David Asbury - whose conviction for the murder of Marion Ross has since been overturned - and Shirley McKie, the Lord Advocate took the decision that there insufficient reliable evidence to prosecute.