Tragic Craig’s family to lobby justice chief for public inquiry
Father wants HumzaYousaf to order probe into murder
Th e family of murdered Craig McClelland will today meet with the Scottish Justice Secretary to demand a public inquiry into his death.
Serial knife thug James Wright, 25, sabotaged his electronic tag and spent six months on the loose before stabbing the young father-of three to death in a Paisley street.
Despite probes by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland and Her maj e s t y ’ s Inspectorate of Prison’s for Scotland in to the case, Craig’s father Michael says they are still in the dark about why Wright was free of kill.
He will travel, along with Craig’s grief-stricken partner Stacey Willcox to St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to meet Humza Yousaf to call for a full public inquiry.
Frustrated Michael told the Paisley Daily Express: “We look forward to meeting with the Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf so we can explain why we need a full public inquiry into the circumstances around my son’s death.
“We hope he understands that we still have many questions which remain unanswered and the only way to get the answers is through a public inquiry.
“We very much hope he will order the inquiry and that we can finally get the information we have been denied so far. We have cross party support on this now.
“If the Justice Secretary refuses our call then I can assure you that this will not be the end.
“The family will do everything within in its power to make sure we get the truth about what happened.”
Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr, his Labour counterpart Daniel Johnson and Scottish Lib Dem leaderWillie Rennie met McClelland’s partner Stacy and dad Michael.
The politicians sent a joint letter to Yousaf, heaping pressure on him to launch a public inquiry to find out how the criminal justice system failed so spectacularly.
Blade fiend Wright, 25, – who had 16 previous convictions, including two for knife possession – murdered Craig in Tweed Avenue, Foxbar, on July 23 2017, while out on a home detention curfew.
He tampered with his electronic tag and was on the run for nearly six months when he committed the horrific crime, which sparked a public outcry.
R e v i e w s by He r Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons were ordered into the case.
These identified failings in the way offenders on home detention curfews are handled.
Yousaf announced changes to Home Detention Curfew’s which will mean offenders convicted of violent crime will no longer be eligible for early release.