Replies from police and government bodies to Caithness family 'simply scandalous'
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THE family of Kevin McLeod, whose body was found in Wick harbour more than 22 years ago, have described as "simply scandalous" the responses they received into complaints about how his death was investigated.
June and Hugh McLeod – the parents of the 24-year-old electrician – and his uncle, Allan McLeod, are dismayed by the replies from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Police Investigation Review Commissioner (Pirc).
They wanted answers as to why the police failed to act on the then procurator fiscal’s instruction to treat Kevin's death as a potential murder.
They took up the issue with the police authority and Pirc. More than 500 days ago the review commissioner recommended the SPA issue "a satisfactory response" as to why the police did not act on the instruction.
The timescale set out by Pirc for policing bodies to implement its recommendations is 56 days. The recommendation was issued on May 23 last year.
The McLeods said the delay in getting an answer caused them "unnecessary pain and anguish in our search for truth and justice".
Now Pirc senior review officer Peter Innes has told the family following a further response from the SPA he is "satisfied that it finally sees our recommendation implemented".
But Mr Innes adds: "I have made clear to the SPA that the time taken to implement the recommendation has in our view been wholly unacceptable, as has the fact that it has taken multiple responses to satisfactorily address the complaint."
He pointed out that Pirc's involvement in the case is "now at an end".
David Collie, the police authority's complaints and conduct manager, also contacted the family and informed them their complaint that the then chief constable, Phil Gormley, failed to instruct Police Scotland to thoroughly investigate why Northern Constabulary did not act on the fiscal’s instruction was not upheld.
"I appreciate that this additional response to Pirc's recommendation will be disappointing for your family but I hope you will appreciate that it has been produced following a careful examination of the available evidence. Once again, I offer profuse apologies for the length of time in which this matter has been ongoing."
Speaking on behalf of the family, Allan McLeod said: "These responses by both the SPA and Pirc are simply scandalous.
"We continue to suspect that all the agencies involved have, from the outset, been complicit in an attempt to protect the truth being exposed as to why police failed to launch a murder investigation as instructed."
The family now hope the independent investigation by Merseyside Police into the circumstances of the case will provide the answers they want.
Mr McLeod said: "We hope that they will finally establish and expose who was responsible for Kevin’s death, the reason why police ignored the fiscal's murder inquiry instruction, and at what stage did agencies involved become aware of the gross dereliction of duty by Northern Constabulary’s chain of command.
"The catalogue of failures by Northern Constabulary in Kevin’s case was, we believe, nothing other than criminal negligence of the worst kind. We were failed and failed badly by the entire Scottish justice system."
Meanwhile, the family is to meet with the Merseyside Police and the deputy Crown agent in Inverness on November 5.
