Lockerbie bomber wins right to appeal

Review Commission refers Megrahi's case back to the Appeal Court on six grounds

News, 28 June 2007

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has ruled that the convicted Lockerbie bomber is entitled to a further appeal against his conviction.

The Commission has referred Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi’s case back to the High Court as it believes there are areas of the case that may constitute a miscarriage of justice.

Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the murder of the 270 people who died following the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988.

Megrahi’s original appeal against conviction was rejected by the High Court in March 2002. Although appeals by both the Crown Office and the applicant in relation to the sentence are still ongoing, those proceedings are separate from the commission's inquiry.

Formidable undertaking

The review of the case has cost some £1.1 million and has been described as “the longest, the most expensive and singularly most complex case” the Commission has had to investigate and review.

The commission looked at all of the evidence submitted during the trial, all the witness statements obtained by the police during the investigation, witness statements from the Crown Office and Megrahi’s defence team, and the information held by the solicitors who acted for Megrahi’s co-accused Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah during the trial.

The Commission spent the most time with Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, who were responsible for the main inquiry, but investigating officers also travelled to Malta, Libya and Italy.

The Commission identified a total of 48 principal grounds for consideration and review. In 45 of the original 48 grounds identified, the Commission concluded that it does not believe that a miscarriage of justice has occurred.

Interests of justice

From the remaining grounds, some of which resulted from the Commission's own investigations, the Commission has identified six grounds where it believes that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred and that it is in the interests of justice to refer the matter to the court of appeal.

The grounds of referral for the case include the reasonableness of the trial court’s verdict, based on the legal test in section 106(3)(b) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. This focuses on the court's finding as to the date of purchase of clothing, fragments of which were later recovered from the wreckage of the plane, from a shop known as "Mary’s House" in Sliema, Malta.

It also considers there to be new evidence not available at trial, concerning the date of purchase of these items, inconsistent with when Megrahi could have been the purchaser, and further evidence tending to undermine the shopowner's identificaton of Megrahi as the purchaser.

The Commission said that the investigation had found no basis for concluding that evidence had been fabricated by the police, the Crown Office, forensic scientists or any other representatives of official bodies or government agencies.

Independence protected

Announcing the decision today, the chairman of the Commission, the Very Rev Dr Graham Forbes, said: "I am satisfied that the Commission has vigorously and independently scrutinised the many grounds of review in this particular application.

“I would emphasise that neither Scottish ministers nor the Scottish Executive Justice Department, nor for that matter any other official body, has at any time sought to influence or interfere in the Commission's investigations; and all requests for appropriate grant aid to enable a full and comprehensive investigation and review have been properly met, without question.”

Gerard Sinclair, the chief executive of the Commission, added: "This has clearly been a unique case for the commission in many ways, not least, in terms of the universal press and media interest. It has certainly been the longest, the most expensive and singularly most complex case we have had to investigate and review.”

The Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini said she had already appointed Ronald Clancy QC and advocate Nick Gardiner to the appeal.

A spokesperson for Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary said the force would continue to work closely with the Crown Office and international colleagues throughout the forthcoming appeal.