The plea to Mike Ewart comes from Hugh and June McLeod who are determined to find out whether the individual was at large when their son Kevin died in February 1997.

Police excluded the man from what was then a murder inquiry as he was at the time a serving prisoner.

But the McLeods have cast doubt on the alibi after receiving information that the prisoner travelled north to Wick on weekend leave and was seen in an altercation with Kevin shortly before his death.

Attempts by the couple and Kevin's uncle Allan McLeod to uncover the man's whereabouts at the relevant time have come up against an official wall of silence.

The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) initially said it did not have the information sought. Then, after acknowledging that it did, claimed it could not divulge details due to the Data Protection Act.

Its stance was upheld in a Freedom of Information ruling while the family's subsequent appeals to the Crown Office and Northern Constabulary have similarly fallen on stony ground.

The latest plea has gone to Mike Ewart, chief executive of the SPS.

The family ask him to correct what they claim was a major inaccuracy in information given to Northern Constabulary by the SPS.

Hugh McLeod writes: "In the case of an unnatural death, we all have a duty to seek the truth and as chief executive of the SPS I ask you to treat our concern as sensitive and exceptional.

"I'd urge you to focus on what is right, rather than go along with what is good for those who bungled a murder inquiry."

The family remain certain 24-year-old Kevin ended up at the bottom of the town's harbour after being the victim of a savage beating.

The SPS has consistently defended its non-disclosure policy.

A spokesperson said: "It is our policy not to divulge details about the location or movements of prisoners, other than to confirm that the individual is in custody. We would otherwise be breaching the Data Protection Act."

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