Sturgeon asked to back inquiry into Gers prosecutions

AN MSP has asked Nicola Sturgeon to support calls for a public inquiry into the wrongful prosecution of two former administrators of Rangers FC.

David Whitehouse and Paul Clark of administrators Duff and Phelps are suing the Lord Advocate and Police Scotland for their wrongful prosecution.

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser asked the First Minister about a statement by the Lord Advocate last month that Mr Whitehouse and Mr Clark were the “victims of a malicious prosecution by the Crown Office”.

During First

Minister’s

Questions, Fraser said: “That is unprecedented in recent Scottish legal history. They have already been paid £ 600,000 in costs, and are claiming another £ 14 million in damages, which will have to be paid by the Scottish taxpayer.”

He asked: “Does the First Minister agree with me that that scandal demands a full, detailed and public inquiry, on conclusion of the litigation, so that those responsible can be held to account?

Sturgeon said “I agree”, but added that she would be “limited” in what she said as the matters were still “live before the court”.

She said: “They also involve issues that relate to the independent prosecution functions of the Crown Office, not to functions of the Lord Advocate as part of the government. Again, those are distinctions that members, particularly those who have a legal background, should probably understand

“I will say, in general terms, because of the caveats that I have just had to insert, that, of course, for anything of that nature, in the fullness of time and when no live proceedings are under way, it is appropriate that there would be a full, proper and appropriate inquiry into what gave rise to those circumstances.

“That is probably as much as I can or should say at this point. I hope and expect that Murdo Fraser will understand.”