Shirley McKie

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Shirley McKie
Shirley McKie

Shirley McKie is a former Scottish police detective who was accused by experts from the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) of leaving her thumb print on the bathroom door frame of a murder crime-scene in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, on January 14, 1997. Denying she had ever been inside the house of murder victim Marion Ross, whose body was discovered on January 8, 1997, Detective Constable McKie was initially suspended then sacked by Strathclyde Police, arrested in 1998 and tried but acquitted in 1999.

In March 2008, with continuing public concern over what is known as the Shirley McKie fingerprint scandal, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced that a public inquiry into the case is to begin in September 2008.[1][2]

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[edit] Perjury

In March 1998, DC McKie was arrested in a dawn raid and charged with perjury. However, in May 1999, the Scottish High Court of Justiciary rejected the SCRO's fingerprint evidence and McKie was unanimously found not guilty of perjury.

[edit] Compensation

McKie sued her employers regarding the manner in which she was arrested but, in February 2003, lost the case against Strathclyde Police and faced a legal bill of £13,000. McKie faced bankruptcy as a result, and she had to be treated for depression. An anonymous donor paid the legal bill in June 2004 and McKie was reported to be "absolutely overjoyed".[3]

A second civil action was then raised suing the Scottish Executive amongst others on the basis that a malicious prosecution had been caused by dishonesty of the SCRO fingerprint experts. A few days before evidence in this case was to be heard, in February 2006, McKie was offered and accepted £750,000 from the Scottish Executive in full settlement of her compensation claim, without admission of liability. The case was then dropped. At an earlier stage of the case against the Scottish Executive the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd argued that expert witnesses should always be immune from prosecution – even if they gave false evidence.

[edit] Calls for independent inquiry

Following the out-of-court settlement, Opposition parties in the Scottish parliament called for a public inquiry to be held into the McKie case. In March 2006, Shirley McKie's father, Iain, and Dr Jim Swire, father of Lockerbie bombing victim, Flora, met to launch a campaign for a judicial inquiry which they hoped would investigate recent revelations of a link between the McKie case and the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial. After the meeting, Dr Swire said:

"The reputation of our country and its criminal justice system will depend upon how these cases are sorted out."[4]

However, the Scottish Executive ruled out any question of a judicial inquiry (which has the power to compel the attendance of witnesses) whilst Shirley McKie and her family announced their campaign for a public inquiry would end on January 9, 2007 – exactly ten years after the Marion Ross murder investigation began:

"We have given ten years of our lives to this and we are not giving any more. It is the politicians' job now to do something about it," said her father, Iain McKie. "It is not our role to fight for justice: it is their role."[5]

[edit] Scottish parliamentary inquiry

Instead, the Scottish parliament decided to refer the McKie case to its Justice 1 Committee whose inquiry began in April 2006 and took evidence from more than 30 witnesses. Ms McKie, accompanied by her father Iain and a team of legal advisers, appeared before the committee of MSPs on May 23, 2006.[6] Her accusers – the four SCRO fingerprint officers Hugh Macpherson, Fiona McBride, Anthony McKenna and Charles Stewart – appeared a week later on May 30, 2006. The Justice 1 Committee proceeded to request the Scottish Executive to provide it with four McKie case reports:

  • the Mackay report;
  • two reports by fingerprint expert, John MacLeod; and,
  • the report by independent expert, Michael Pass.

The Lord Advocate responded by refusing to release the Mackay report for reasons relating to "fundamental principles of our democracy, including the presumption of innocence". Justice minister Cathy Jamieson did however agree to release to MSPs reports by John MacLeod and Michael Pass.[7] The full text of the Mackay report was subsequently published by the BBC.[8]

In September 2006, the four fingerprint officers were reported to have been offered a deal by the SCRO to resign or take early retirement. Their union, Unison, criticised the timing of the offer (before the Justice 1 Committee had reported) and argued that the SCRO officers were being "harassed".[9]

The report of the Justice 1 committee of the Scottish parliament published its 230-page report on February 15, 2007 (pages 189-190 deal specifically with Ms McKie's out-of-court settlement).[10]

[edit] Protest song

Scottish folk singer and poet, Michael Marra, has written a protest song condemning the "lies" surrounding the McKie case. The song opens:

"I am Shirley McKie/She is me and I am she/You are too, Shirley is you/We are she because Shirley is we."

Referring to first minister, Jack McConnell, the lyrics continue:

"We lecture children if they're telling lies/They will not prosper and they will not thrive.../And even the first minister must sometimes stand naked."[1]

[edit] Publications

Shirley McKie: The Price of Innocence by Iain McKie and Michael Russell MSP, published April 18, 2007, ISBN 9781841585758, price £7.99, from Waterstones or Birlinn

[edit] References

  1. ^ Northern Irish judge will head McKie print inquiry
  2. ^ Scottish Police Services Authority : Public Inquiry FAQ
  3. ^ BBC report on the McKie fingerprint case
  4. ^ Iain McKie and Dr Jim Swire call for judicial inquiry
  5. ^ McKie's campaign for public inquiry to end
  6. ^ McKie appears before parliamentary inquiry
  7. ^ Lord Advocate, Colin Boyd, refuses to release Mackay report
  8. ^ Text of James Mackay's report published by the BBC
  9. ^ Fingerprint officers are offered deal by SCRO
  10. ^ Justice 1 committee report into the McKie case

[edit] External links