WATCH: Wick Harbour death report block "really unacceptable"
Crown Office and Police Scotland told off by Shadow Justice Secretary.
Last updated 6th Feb 2020
The Shadow Justice Secretary says the Crown Office and the police must work together to avoid causing more upset to a family in Wick.
Kevin Mcleod's parents were yesterday due to receive a less censored Cameron Report into their son's unexplained drowning in the town's harbour.
But Liam Kerr MSP says COPFS officials yesterday halted its hand-delivery by Police Scotland.
He told MFR News: "They have to start communicating with each other. It's really unacceptable to receive communication saying this is a legitimate expectation on your part, and then in the 11th hour to have those hopes dashed.
"The family will certainly have questions as to why the Crown Office appears to have intervened in a timetable which was agreed by Police Scotland for providing that report.
"I think they will have expected a greater degree of co-operation, and indeed communication between the two agencies."
MFR BROKE THE NEWS OF THE COPFS BLOCK YESTERDAY:
The Crown Office is reviewing the former Northern Constabulary case, and a spokesperson says there's an "obligation" that "any material...disclosed...does not...prejudice any future course of action."
An experienced prosecutor from the Criminal Allegations Against the Police Division has been tasked with looking into the botched initial investigation into the 24-year-old's massive internal injuries and Highland harbour drowning in 1997.
The case remains unsolved after the legacy force ignored an instruction from the procurator fiscal at the time to launch a potential murder inquiry.
The Cameron Report was written in 2002 but it was only in 2007 when the Mcleods received a redacted copy after a five year long fight with the system, which ended with the helpful intervention of the Information Commissioner.
Among the sections missing from the family's copy are seven pages which list 'potential misconduct' by individual officers who handled the failed investigation into Kevin's death, or the resulting complaints from the deceased's loved ones.
Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs told MFR News: "Police Scotland committed to reviewing the redactions in the original Cameron report and consider if we could provide the family with a version with fewer redactions.
"That work has been completed and we have a new version which we intend to give them, however, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has asked to see this version first."
And a spokesperson for the Crown Office added: "The Lord Advocate has instructed the Criminal Allegations Against the Police Division (CAAP-D) of COPFS to independently review the investigation carried out following the death of Kevin McLeod in February 1997, with a view to considering whether or not any further enquiries would be appropriate.
"As this is a live review there is an obligation on all parties, including the Police Service of Scotland, to ensure that any material that is disclosed does not have the potential to prejudice any future course of action."
WHAT IS THE CAMERON REPORT?
At the time of Central Police Chief Constable Andrew Cameron's independent review, officers were told that they would not get into trouble if they admitted to any alleged wrongdoing.
On pages 193 and 194 of his report, Mr Cameron commented: '...an assurance was given to Northern Constabulary officers that misconduct action against them was not envisaged...This assurance resulted in the majority of interviews with police officers proceeding on an open and apparently frank basis.
'Throughout the extensive and detailed interview process and the examination of a huge raft of correspondence, a number of issues arose which gave rise to consideration of the conduct of various officers below the rank of Chief Officer and which inferred potential misconduct. These are as follows: handwritten annotation: Following paragraphs removed up to p201.
At the moment Major Crime detectives from Police Scotland are carrying out a fresh probe following new allegations made by a new witness who came forward in January, who claimed he saw the final moments of Kevin's life.
Since then, Specialist Crime Division officers have told our newsroom that's led to 'new information' and the need to question 15-'potential witnesses.'