TERROR HERO COP CLEARED AFTER DRUG BUST PROBE
Doctored files claim is thrown out
A highly decorated former senior police officer has been cleared over claims he doctored paperwork that saw a man jailed.
A criminal investigation was launched into the conduct of ex- assistant chief constable John Neilson, 61, after a complaint to Police Scotland last year.
The force passed its evidence to the Crown Off ice and Procurator Fiscal S e r v ic e ’ s ( COPFS) Cr imina l Allegations Against the Police Division to decide on what action, i f any, should be taken against retired Mr Neilson.
When we broke the story last June, Mr Neilson said he was unaware his former col lea g ues had been investigating him over alleged criminality he was involved in as far back as 2003. He also denied any wrongdoing.
But now the Crown
Off ice have said there is “insufficient evidence” to proceed with a prosecution. Prosecutors said Crown Counsel, who are independent lawyers, had made the decision.
The allegations were made by a sole complainant and the COPFS said in its explanation that it required evidence from “two separate sources” to proceed.
The claims centred on a raid in 2003 by Strathclyde Police officers in East K i lbr ide overseen by Mr Neilson,
t h en a superintendent based in Hamilton. Officers targeted the home of Gerald Lafferty – the son of a fugitive bank robber, also called Gerald, who was wanted for a violent multimillion-pound bank raid in 1991.
Lafferty Sr had f led while awaiting trial at the High Court in Airdrie in 1992. Officers had spent more than a decade searching for him and had mounted unsuccessful operations in Ireland and England after receiving tips.
By 2003, Lafferty Jr was the subject of a surveillance operation at his home.
Officers had hoped to find Lafferty Sr when they busted the property but discovered a large quantity of drugs. The haul included heroin, amphetamine and cannabis.
But the whistleblower report claimed Mr Neilson’s original approval for the surveillance op would have been inadmissible in any prosecution of Lafferty Jr. The claims al leged Mr Neilson subsequently changed the authorisation document, claiming it “had been subjected to massive alteration”.
Lafferty Jr was jailed for three years for the drug seizure and died in 2016. His dad died in 2008.
The Crown Office declined to comment. Police Scotland said: “We have been informed of the current status of this case by the Crown Office and are unable to comment further at this time.”
Mr Neilson headed up the police response to the Glasgow Airport attack in 2007. He retired three years later. He said: “Neither the Crown nor police contacted me about this, which was disappointing. It’s good news it’s over.”