MP backs bid to clear name of soldier jailed for murder
Carmichael raises doubt over killing of Orkney waiter 22 years ago
FORMER Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael has backed a campaign to clear the name of an ex-Black Watch soldier convicted of murder.
The Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland made the intervention in a letter to campaigners seeking to overturn the conviction of Michael Ross for shooting 26-year-old Bangladeshi waiter Shamsuddin Mahmood in Orkney in 1994.
Ross was convicted in 2008 but former prosecutor Mr Carmichael is not convinced of his guilt. He has visited Ross in prison and says he is small in stature, unlike the man described by several of the witnesses who saw the killer.
Mr Carmichael makes clear in his letter to the Justice for Michael Ross campaign that he is not making a judgment on the innocence or guilt of former sniper Ross, who was 15 at the time of the murder.
But the MP says he believes police could have carried out the murder probe differently.
He has also criticised the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice. It ruled in 2014 that there was not enough evidence to support an appeal by Ross, who was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years.
He was also given a five-year sentence for trying to escape at the end of the proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow and for illegal possession of guns and ammunition.
Mr Carmichael, a lawyer and former depute procurator fiscal, has a long-standing interest in possible wrongful convictions and led successful efforts to free Kenny Richey, the Scot who was held on Death Row in the United States.
After studying the Ross case, Mr Carmichael wrote: ‘The verdict has been controversial within the local community in Orkney and I have been approached by a number of constituents over the years who have been concerned about it.’
In response to campaigners’ claims that witness descriptions put the killer at up to 6ft tall, Mr Carmichael said: ‘In any criminal trial the issue of the identification of the person accused is central.
‘When I met Michael I was struck that, at 5ft 7in, he is not particularly tall. I suspect that, given the opportunity to do things again, some aspects of the police investigation might be done differently.’
He told the campaigners: ‘The information you placed before the commission went into this subject in some detail and highlighted a number of issues surrounding the descriptions offered by witnesses and the conduct of the police investigation.
‘These are very legitimate concerns. I agree that the commission has not properly engaged with these issues and appear not to have analysed your submissions in the way that I would have expected.
‘I was surprised to learn, for example, the commission’s staff had not interviewed any witnesses. The thinking behind their conclusions is not as clear as I would expect it to be.’
In a message to his supporters last night, 38-year-old Ross said: ‘It’s reassuring to see that someone in a position of authority is concerned at the way the SCCRC has conducted my case review.
‘Many politicians would not speak out on an issue like this and I’m pleased that Mr Carmichael has studied the files he has been provided with. I hope his views will draw attention to the hurdles faced by the wrongly convicted.’
A Justice for Michael Ross spokesman said: ‘We feel the general public would be shocked if they knew the reality of what passes for justice in Scotland.
‘Our efforts will continue until the day Michael Ross is free.’
Police Scotland and the SCCRC both declined to comment.