Public inquiry into fingerprint service needed

Faculty of Advocates foresees frequent defence challenges of fingerprint evidence

News, 19 February 2007

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The Faculty of Advocates is calling for a judicial inquiry into Scotland's fingerprint service in the wake of the Shirley McKie case.

The call follows the publication last week of the report of the inquiry by Holyrood's Justice 1 Committee. The committee criticised the management and leadership of the fingerprint service, part of the Scottish Criminal Record Office, and said there was still a lot of work to be done to make the service excellent.

Valerie Stacey QC, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Advocates said that the case had badly damaged public confidence in the fingerprint service and that a public inquiry should be carried out.

Without this, she could foresee frequent defence challenges to fingerprint evidence in future cases, as it was difficult to know whether Scotland's fingerprint identification process was robust.

In another development, Strathclyde Police has confirmed that officers are looking into the McKie case after former Detective Chief Inspector Les Brown handed in information provided by the four fingerprint experts who originally identified the fingerprint as Ms McKie's in the home of murder victim Marion Ross.

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