WATCH: Wick 'murder' mystery to get independent review by English police
Merseyside Police probing Kevin Mcleod's unexplained harbour death.
Last updated 10th Jul 2019
An exclusive ongoing MFR News investigation has led to another major milestone for a Highland family fighting for answers to a 22-year-long 'murder' mystery.
Kevin Mcleod's family have been told an English police force will carry out an independent review of the 24-year-old's unexplained death at Wick Harbour.
Merseyside Police will look into events before and after Kevin's apparently beaten body was found in 1997 after the electrician drowned.
The external constabulary's review could start as soon as the end of next month.
More than two decades ago, Northern Constabulary - the legacy police force in existence at the time - botched the initial inquiry after failing to investigate properly when officers ignored an instruction to launch a potential murder probe.
It meant potentially vital evidence was lost, leaving the grieving Caithness family in the dark until a recent meeting with Police Scotland's chief constable Iain Livingstone who issued the Mcleods with an official apology, and formally recognised previous misconduct.
Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) yesterday caved into pressure to bring in an English force to find answers for the family.
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"Our trust and confidence in policing in Scotland is at a low" - ALLAN MCLEOD (Kevin's uncle)
After a two hour meeting at the COPFS office in Inverness yesterday Kevin's uncle Allan emerged from the building and told our senior reporter waiting outside: "The Lord Advocate and the chief constable has now decided to invite an external police force to look at the whole investigation.
"Merseyside Police will be begin a review some time between end of August and October.
"They're looking at everything - the new witness statement, any witnesses who came forward in the past, everything that's been undertaken by both Northern Constabulary and Police Scotland.
"We've been asking for an external force for many a year. We asked Northern Constabulary but they refused it, and now we're glad that chief constable Iain Livingstone and the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC has now listened to the family, because as they know our trust and confidence in policing in Scotland is at a low. Hopefully now we'll get the result we've been looking for, for 22-years."
Mum June told MFR News: "When they said that chief constable Iain Livingstone has invited Merseyside Police to investigate Kevin's death, that made me jerk, thinking: 'wow, we've waited a long time for this.'
"I just want justice for Kevin. For a family to go on fighting like this is horrific."
Dad Hugh added: "They probably know that the family's not going to rest until everything has been done - dot the I, cross the T. They probably realise that we're not going away...and we're not.
"Until the last breath goes out of our body, we will fight for justice for Kevin. When we go, if it's not done, we hope that our nephews and sons will take it on."
MAJOR MILESTONE FOR THE FAMILY WHO SPOKE TO OUR SENIOR REPORTER YESTERDAY:
Our North of Scotland correspondent Bryan Rutherford has been working on an MFR News investigation since the end of 2016. He said: "Merseyside Police could start inquiries into the unexplained tragedy as early as next month.
"Police Scotland's preparing to hand over case files to the English force.
"This independent review is the most significant development yet, but possibly the family's last chance for answers.
"Over the last year and a half, detectives from Police Scotland's Specialist Crime Division have been investigating fresh claims made by a new witness revealed by MFR News after he exclusively told us he saw Kevin still alive in the water with two other men present before he was later found dead.
"That shocking revelation has had the attention of up to 10 Major Crime detectives ever since we broke that news.
"We're still waiting to hear the outcome of both of those strands of investigative work.
"There has been a lot of behind the scenes work around the clock to help progress Kevin's loved ones' campaign for answers - a series of exclusive reports broken on-air between 2017 until present day, but if anyone should be credited with getting to this point it's Kevin's relatives who have never given in when most of us probably would have."
WATCH: In January 2018 MFR News exclusively revealed shocking revelations from a new eyewitness...
Speaking exclusively to MFR, retired murder detective Iain McKie claims Merseyside investigators will find it tough to work out what happened, because Northern Constabulary failed to gather potential evidence at the time of the tragedy.
Mr McKie told us: "When Kevin's body was found in Wick Harbour the investigation was terrible.
"The clothing was burnt at the time, there was a failure to interview witnesses who were quite readily available, time passes - people retire from the police, people die, and memories change.
"With the formation of Police Scotland, entirely different processes were put in place, and it was Kevin's tragic death which advised creation of that system."
"Kevin’s parents, Hugh and June Mcleod, have suffered unimaginable pain and trauma for more than 20 years as they search for answers regarding his death" - POLICE SCOTLAND
In a statement emailed after yesterday's meeting with the Mcleods, Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald said: "Kevin’s parents, Hugh and June Mcleod, have suffered unimaginable pain and trauma for more than 20 years as they search for answers regarding his death.
"It is only right that Police Scotland does everything it possibly can to address these unanswered questions.
"That is why the Chief Constable has asked Merseyside Police to assess all the circumstances surrounding Kevin’s death to assist Police Scotland detectives with their review of the case.
"As we have said previously, numerous investigations into this case by Police Scotland have confirmed that initial inquiries by Northern Constabulary fell short of the required standard and opportunities to gather vital evidence were missed.
"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, which Northern Constabulary at that time failed to do.
"The tragic events surrounding Kevin’s death remain unexplained, however we are fully committed to investigating any new evidence which may come to light.
"I would urge anyone in both Wick and the wider area who may have any information they feel could help our investigations to please come forward."
LISTEN: It all started with a grieving mum's phone call to the chief constable on live radio...
Anyone with information should contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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CLICK HERE for more on our Kevin Mcleod investigation series.