WATCH: Wick death witness claims he called 999 to help Kevin Mcleod
MFR News reveals details of fresh police inquiry into 1997 drowning.
Last updated 6th Feb 2020
A witness who claims he was the last person to see Kevin Mcleod alive in Wick Harbour says he called 999 for help.
Speaking exclusively to MFR News, the witness - who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues - said: "I phoned the 999-services. I never gave your normal what your name is or anything like that, but I basically rang for the emergency services. What services do you require, I think it was, or something to that effect. Can you send an ambulance and police to the harbour? I think someone's drowned. And then I hung up."
Telecommunications giant BT has told our ongoing news investigation into the 24-year-old's unexplained drowning that 999 call logs are wiped after just three months, and the Scottish Ambulance Service ditches the data after sever years.
In January our reporter Bryan Rutherford broke the exclusive that a new witness had come forward to tell Police Scotland's Specialist Crime Division that he'd seen Kevin still alive in the water, and was chased by one of two men who stood above Kevin watching him.
He explained: "I was walking home, and I decided to walk on a little hill above the actual harbour. I heard a commotion, voices, and scuffling, and whatever, and then a splash.
"I saw the two people and Kevin in the water. I believe he kind of went under the water. I must have made a noise because the two people looked round, and one gave chase."
Three months on from those allegations being formally recorded by central belt-based detectives in the form of a witness statement, the Mcleod family anxiously await the outcome of a fresh police inquiry.
Dad Hugh said: "These homicide officers, we have to put a bit more trust in them" and mum June added: "We will get justice for Kevin some day. All we need is the final bit in the jigsaw now."
Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Blair told MFR News: "Due to the passage of time, my officers have physically searched a number of police stations across the Police Scotland estate, in an effort to recover any associated legacy force, non-electronic documents that are relevant to the matters raised by the new witness.
"The information from the new witness is currently subject to ongoing assessment which has resulted in a number of additional statements being taken from related persons as well as engagement with independent national experts in certain fields."
In early February, Police Scotland carried out its first ever public appeal for information into the death, which a Fatal Accident Inquiry was unable to explain, particularly the cause of severe abdominal injuries suffered by the young electrician.
The appeal was made exactly 21-years on from the tragedy.
In December 2017, the man currently leading Police Scotland, Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone met with Kevin Mcleod's family in Wick Town hall after the senior officer flew from Edinburgh to the local airport in Caithness.
'It is unquestionable that since this tragic incident numerous investigations and enquiries have substantiated your belief that there were serious and numerous failings on the part of Northern Constabulary in both the initial and subsequent investigations.
'It is Police Scotland’s unequivocal position that we fully accept that an instruction was indeed given by the then Procurator Fiscal to treat Kevin’s death as a murder and to investigate it accordingly, a matter which Northern Constabulary at that time failed to do.
'There is no doubt that basic policing procedures at this time such as door to door enquiries were never carried out and subsequently the opportunity to gather vital evidence missed.'
'During a recent comprehensive review of this case Police Scotland has come to conclusion that, because of the initial police investigation failures and based upon the evidence now available, we are unable to present any evidence which would clearly indicate the circumstances surrounding the cause of Kevin’s death either criminally or accidentally. It remains the case that Police Scotland are committed to considering any evidence which may come to light in the future.'
The dramatic U-turn in language came after four months of negotiations between representatives of the Mcleod family - including Caithness and Sutherland MSP Gail Ross - and DCC Livingstone, and those discussions were also the subject of oversight of the constabulary's lawyers.
Following the meeting, and speaking exclusively to MFR News, DCC Livingstone told MFR News: "What happened shouldn't have happened. I can't put the clock back. I wish I could. I wish that in February 1997 there'd been a thorough, proper, and professional police investigation."