Who’s the guilty man in this police fiasco?

‘THERE was an old sheriff I appeared before…’ Thus began another turgid column from former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

A qualified solicitor, I assume Mr MacAskill was in the well of the court in a professional capacity, not sitting in the dock flanked by white-gloved police officers, indicted on solemn procedure.

Not entirely fanciful, of course, as he embarrassingly had his collar felt by the Metropolitan Police and missed the entire Euro 2000 qualifier at Wembley on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.

I would like to see Mr MacAskill under oath helping with inquires about missing savings. I’m talking about the money the creation of Police Scotland from eight regional forces was supposed to save.

No sign of it as rankand-file officers are at full stretch and the thin blue line looks wan.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay says the £35million annual VAT bill the unitary force faces is unacceptable and, for once, he’s not wrong. But perhaps Mr MacAskill could tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury how it came about…

The regional forces answered to local authorities, which could reclaim VAT. The SNP were warned time and again that a national authority could not follow suit.

Dogmatic Mr MacAskill pressed on – desperate to secure as much control over the new force as possible.

Practically Nicola Sturgeon’s first act as First Minister was to sack Mr MacAskill. How ironic that the force, still suffering from his legacy, marks its fourth birthday today – April Fool’s Day.