23/04/06 (UK):
Will fingerprint expert be gagged?
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When former PC Shirlie McKie was falsely accused of deliberately leaving her fingerprint at a crime scene, she sued the Scottish Executive. The case was settled following a £750,000 pay-out but rumbles on politically as the findings of an independent fingerprint expert are yet to be made available to the Parliamentary Inquiry set up in its wake.
Mr. John MacLeod, a fingerprint expert who wrote a secret report for the Scottish Executive on the case, is to be called before MSPs when they begin their inquiry this week. But Executive officials, who have already refused to release his report to the inquiry, have warned MacLeod "will not be in a position" to give verbal evidence either, and they are holding him to a confidentiality agreement he signed with ministers prior to delivering his report. Legal experts said last night it was most likely the Executive would go to court to seek an injunction preventing MacLeod giving evidence.
The decision by ministers to keep MacLeod to his agreement, rather than letting him speak to a parliamentary committee, sets the stage for a major stand-off between the Scottish Parliament and the Executive. The expert signed his agreement with ministers prior to handing over his report in 2004. The contents of that report - so far only seen by ministers and Executive officials - are seen as crucial to getting to the truth of the matter as they will show exactly what ministers were told about the affair, long before it was settled.
The case came to prominence long before the Executive settled the case, and senior politicians stated that experts who had apparently identified Ms McKie's print had only made an honest mistake. However, senior police officers have described the events as a "cover up". Apparently Mr. Mcleod is anxious to reveal the contents of his findings but that decision is likely to be made elsewhere.
© X-Pro 2006
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