Finnie under fire over police chief link

The head of Holyrood’s police watchdog has come under fire for failing to reveal his links to a misconduct case involving the current head of the force.

Green MSP John Finnie did not tell fellow MSPS that he was part of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) which backed stand-in Chief Constable Iain Livingstone when he faced sexual assault charges in 2003.

These charges were dropped and Mr Livingstone admitted lesser charges which resulted in a four-rank demotion. But this punishment was later dropped on appeal.

Mr Finne now chairs Holyrood’s justice subcommittee on policing.

But he failed to declare the link, in line with normal “declaration of interest” protocols, when he grilled Mr Livingstone during an appearance before the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee last year.

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said Mr Finnie owesparliament“anexplanation” for failing to reveal the link.

But a spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said yesterday: “The Scottish Parliament’s guidance on declarations is rigorously followed by all of our MSPS, including on this particular meeting of the justice committee.”