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Ministers face a grilling in McKie judicial inquiry

A JUDICIAL inquiry into the notorious McKie fingerprint case is set to investigate claims that the cover-up over the affair was linked to fears it would scupper the Lockerbie prosecution.

Scotland on Sunday can reveal that a full inquiry into the McKie affair has been given the go-ahead by new SNP ministers who have begun discussions about who should head up the potentially explosive probe.

Ex-ministers including Jim Wallace, Cathy Jamieson and former Lord Advocate Colin Boyd are almost certain to be called to give evidence.

But the inquiry is also likely to ask whether the case was dropped because it might have “tainted” the Scottish legal system during the Lockerbie case.

The revelations come as Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which crashed on Lockerbie, prepares to hear whether his case will be sent back to the appeal court at the end of this month. The bombing killed 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground.

Last year, former policewoman Shirley McKie received 750,000 in compensation after ministers admitted that fingerprint experts at the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) had made an “honest mistake” in wrongly identifying her as having been present at a murder scene.

Ministers had hoped the payment would draw a line under the affair, but there followed a welter of fresh revelations about the case, including claims by a senior police chief of a “cover-up” and “conspiracy”.

Despite this, ministers in the previous administration refused to hold a judicial inquiry, opting instead for a parliamentary inquiry.

SNP sources now say that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will “definitely” press ahead with a public inquiry once a suitable judge has been selected. This could take time, however, as there are concerns that no judge in Scotland would be able to carry out the task, which will require detailed scrutiny of the judicial system itself.

Sources have also confirmed the inquiry will not re-examine the print itself, and will start from the basis that it was not McKie’s.

The remit is likely to focus on why the mistake was made and on the alleged ‘cover-up’.

The Lockerbie link was made last year by two American fingerprint experts who claim they were told to “back off” from their criticisms of the McKie affair for fear it would tarnish the reputation of the Scottish legal system.

The warnings in 2001 came as Scottish prosecutors prepared the Lockerbie trial, a case of international importance.

David Grieve, a senior fingerprint expert at Illinois State Police, said last year: “I was asked not to mention anything about the [McKie] case and not to publicise it because we had to think about the higher goal, which was Lockerbie.”

The warnings came as serious questions were being asked about the SCRO’s handling of the McKie case.

A report by the former Assistant Chief Constable of Tayside Police, Jim Mackay, into the case had concluded that officials at the SCRO had taken a “criminal course of action” by “covering up” their mistakes.

The then Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, decided not to prosecute anyone from the SCRO. He has always strenuously denied there was any link between this decision and the Lockerbie case.

The news that an inquiry will happen was welcomed by Shirley McKie’s father, Iain, last night.

“The starting point here needs to be, first of all, why did they make these mistakes? And then why were they prepared to keep it under wraps for 10 years.”

He added: “This case brings in Lockerbie, and that undoubtedly needs to be looked at.”

The public inquiry would also be able to summon some of the key police and Crown Office figures in the case, who were not brought before the parliamentary inquiry.

As with the inquiry into the Holyrood building project, it would also have full powers to pull all documents relating to the case which have not so far been published.

A spokesman for MacAskill said that ministers would be considering the content of the inquiry over the coming months. No decision is expected over the next few weeks.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is expected to reach a verdict by the end of this month over whether or not the verdict in the Lockerbie case is unsafe. If they do so, then the entire case could be re-tried.