POLICE Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone and former Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland have both said they support calls for an inquiry into the malicious prosecutions of former Rangers FC administrators Paul Clark and David Whitehouse.
Clark and Whitehouse were recently awarded £10.5 million in damages for their indictment in 2014 following their involvement in the administration of the club in 2012, for which all charges were later dismissed or dropped. Lord Advocate James Wolffe, who was not in post at the time of the prosecution, this week apologised and also backed calls for an independent judge-led inquiry into what went wrong.
Livingstone leant his support to the calls as he appeared before the Public Audit and Post Legislative Scrutiny Committee at Holyrood yesterday.
“I shared the levels of concern that were expressed and I also share what was the will of Parliament that the role of Police Scotland would be included with any judicial inquiry that is then established. I give my full commitment to participate fully with that, I agree that there should be an inquiry into the circumstances and I give my commitment that the Police Service of Scotland will contribute to and co-operate fully with any inquiry that arises,” he said.
David McKie of Levy & McRae, solicitor for Mulholland, said: “In light of the unfounded personal attack made on my client in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday, he requires to take the unusual step of responding publicly to the false and scandalous statements made under the protection of parliamentary privilege. He wishes to make it clear that he welcomes the independent judge-led public inquiry into all the circumstances surrounding this case and it carries his unequivocal support.”
He added: “His view is that any inquiry should also include a public and open review of the entirety of the evidence at the time of indictment and a detailed examination of all of the case’s processes prior to the decision to proceed."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here