New chief constable of Police Scotland is right man for the job, say McLeod family

THE McLeod family from Wick has welcomed the appointment of Iain Livingstone as the new chief constable of Police Scotland and say he is “the right candidate for the job”.

June and Hugh McLeod hope Mr Livingstone will “continue to take a personal interest” in their son Kevin’s case and ensure those responsible for his death are brought to justice.

The body of the 24-year-old electrician was recovered from Wick harbour in February 1997 after a night out with friends.

The then Northern Constabulary said there were no suspicious circumstances and ruled the death was a tragic accident. However, the family has always believed Kevin was murdered due to the injuries he sustained.

At the time, the then procurator fiscal Alasdair MacDonald issued an instruction to the police to treat the case as a murder inquiry but that was not done.

Allan McLeod, Kevin’s uncle, speaking on behalf of the family, said: “We welcome the announcement that Iain Livingstone is to be the next chief constable of Police Scotland. Mr Livingstone in December 2017 was the first police officer in 20 years to have met the family to personally apologise and finally admit what the family had always suspected from the outset, that the late procurator fiscal Alastair MacDonald on Monday, February 10, 1997, had indeed instructed legacy force Northern Constabulary to investigate Kevin’s death as murder, and that they had failed to act on the fiscal’s instruction.

“For Mr Livingstone’s apology and honesty to the family in this high-profile case we believe that he is the right candidate for the job. We hope he will continue to take a personal interest in Kevin’s case to ensure that all leads are properly followed through and that those responsible for Kevin’s death will finally be brought to justice.”

Meanwhile, Police Scotland has provided the additional information requested by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).

It told the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) that it must explain why a recent review of the case failed to examine a decision not to treat Kevin’s death as murder.

The instruction was given following a complaint by the family. The SPA was given 56 days to respond but exceeded that timescale.

As a result the SPA’s complaints and conduct co-ordinator, Stuart Milne, apologised for the delay but pointed out that the organisation was waiting for information from Police Scotland.

That information has now been supplied, as Mr Milne told the family in an email.

He wrote: “I can advise that Police Scotland have now provided the additional information sought which requires further enquiries to be carried out by the SPA. I appreciate your frustration and again apologise for the time taken to provide you with a response to the PIRC recommendation. Every effort will be made to provide you with a full response in due course.”