Murdered Craig’s dad: Holyrood let-down has left me fuming
The dad of murdered Paisley man Craig McClelland says his family have been “let down dreadfully” after a bid to alter a new offenders’ law was tossed out.
The Scottish Government rejected MSP Neil Bibby’s call to make it mandatory for a Fatal Accident Inquiry ( FAI) to be held when a tagged offender commits murder.
Fuming Michael McClelland last night lashed out at First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, claiming their decision was based on money and not protecting families.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “My family has been let down dreadfully by the Scottish Government.
“We wanted a change in the law that would make it mandatory for an FAI to be held when an offender on a home detention curfew commits murder, but they have refused it.
“The law would have helped other families in the same situation as ours — that is what we wanted.
“The Scottish Government doesn’t care about that. It only cares about keeping control and saving money.
“It has not just refused us and let us down, but it has let down the 5,000 people who signed our petition.
“I’m really angry over it.
“The First Minister does not want to help us and never has.”
MSPs rejected Paisley- based Mr Bibby’s amendment to the Management of Offenders Bill.
The new legislation will mean more offenders will be given community-based sentences and placed on tags.
Father-of-three Craig McClelland, 31, was stabbed to death by James Wright in Tweed Avenue, Foxbar, in July 2017.
It emerged Wright had removed his electronic tag just days after being released early from prison and was “unlawfully at large” when he murdered innocent Craig.
Mr Yousaf rejected the family’s call for a public inquiry, claiming police and prison service watchdog reports were sufficient.
The Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC has instructed Crown Office lawyers to look at the possibility of an FAI into Craig’s murder.
Mr Bibby’s amendment, which would have added murders committed by prisoners on tags to the list of circumstances triggering an automatic sheriff-led FAI, was rejected by 62 votes to 50.
The politician said: “What happened to Craig McClelland should never have happened.
“It was a tragic failure in a system that should have kept him and his community safe.
“That failure has to be the subject of a full, independent inquiry.
“It is not just in the interest of Craig’s family, who are still searching for answers, it is in the public interest too.
“If there have been systemic failures, if the police and prison service are not being sufficiently resourced, then we need to know.
“Frankly, it is a disgrace that parliament has voted to deny Craig’s family an inquiry and that they have voted to prevent FAIs becoming mandatory in cases of this kind in future.
“Whether there is an inquiry into the McClelland case is now entirely a matter for the Lord Advocate.
“I hope he will do the right thing and instruct an inquiry to take place because it is the only way I can see confidence in the tagging system being restored.
“I know there are MSPs on all sides who believe that an inquiry is justified.
“Yet the SNP Government has resisted an inquiry every step of the way.
“It is appalling and it is shameful.
“Worst of all, it is Paisley MSP George Adam who has been whipping the SNP to vote against an independent inquiry into the death of a local man in his constituency.
“If local MSPs won’t put the interests of their community before their party on this issue, then how can they be trusted to do right by their constituents on anything else.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Management of Offenders Bill introduces new monitoring capabilities and enhanced powers for the police to help apprehend those who abscond from home detention curfew.
“Responsibility for the investigation of death in Scotland lies with the Lord Advocate, who acts independently of ministers.
“Parliament considered the issue of mandatory FAIs in 2016, and again this week when it voted to retain the Lord Advocate’s discretion to hold a FAI.
“Mandatory FAIs for deaths on HDC in every case may result in cases where a FAI is not appropriate or where the family involved do not want one.”