Highland MSP Douglas Ross used his last First Minister’s Questions as Tory leader to raise the case of murdered Nairn man Alistair Wilson with John Swinney, accusing the SNP of “stretching Police Scotland to breaking point”.
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00:00Andrew Wilson was four when his father was murdered, and this
00:04week, he said this.
00:06We question why our family is still being kept in the dark
00:10while Jo Farrell is basking in the media spotlight as she talks
00:13of building bridges and providing confidence to our
00:17family.
00:18Andrew continued, we don't know whether Jo Farrell has been
00:22confused or perhaps even caught in a lie, but she has certainly
00:27failed to reassure us that she has a grip on the worsening
00:31situation.
00:33Alasdair Wilson's family describe the conduct of the chief
00:35constable as insulting and callous.
00:39So does the First Minister agree with the family of Alasdair
00:43Wilson?
00:44First Minister.
00:45Presiding Officer, this is obviously an incredibly sensitive
00:48case, and the first thing I want to say is to express my
00:52sympathy to the Wilson family at the tragedy they suffered almost
00:5820 years ago, and to share their frustration that this case has
01:03not been resolved.
01:05Mr Ross will know that there has been extensive intervention and
01:11investigation to try to identify who was responsible for the
01:16murder of Alasdair Wilson, and I welcome very much the fact that
01:20the Lord Advocate, who, as Mr Ross will understand, is the
01:24independent head of the prosecution service, has instructed
01:27that a fresh investigation be undertaken of this case.
01:31The point that Mr Ross puts to me about the actions of the chief
01:36constable—again, Mr Ross will appreciate that the police operate
01:42with absolute operational independence from the Government—it
01:46would be inappropriate of me to indicate any opinion on the stance
01:51taken by the chief constable.
01:54It is a matter for the chief constable to address, and certainly
01:59the First Minister should not be indicating to the chief constable
02:04what actions she should take in relation to a live investigation.
02:08Douglas Ross.
02:09I know the situation very well.
02:13My question is not about the live police investigation.
02:17It is about the comments of a family this week—a family still
02:21grieving the loss in horrific circumstances.
02:25The response from Police Scotland following the decision by the
02:29Lord Advocate is one that clearly falls below any standard that we
02:33should expect, particularly from the chief constable of Police
02:37Scotland.
02:38I hope that the First Minister will at least reflect on that
02:42language—insulting and callous.
02:46The chief constable is being described by a grieving family as
02:50callous.
02:51I hope that the First Minister will reflect on that and seek to
02:54address what could happen, because this case has been unsolved for
03:00two decades, but it has also spanned several chief constables and
03:04several Government ministers.
03:06The Wilson family have raised concerns about the current chief
03:09constable's handling of the case, but the Scottish Government is not
03:12powerless in this situation.
03:14Indeed, the First Minister has previously spoken about on-going
03:17police investigations in his constituency.
03:21Has he or his justice secretary spoken with the family of Alasdair
03:28Wilson about their significant concerns?
03:30If so, what is being done to address those concerns?
03:35I do not want to create any sense that I am not sympathetic and
03:44empathetic to the situation in which the Wilson family find
03:48themselves.
03:49Alasdair Wilson was murdered on his own doorstep, his killers have
03:56not been brought to justice, and that deeply concerns me.
04:01It is important that I place on the record that Police Scotland has
04:05had formidable success in resolving cases of murder—some of them
04:12long in the past—because of the improvement in investigative
04:17procedures and practices.
04:19That has resulted in a number of people being brought to justice
04:22who had remained with freedom, having committed some of the worst
04:31imaginable crimes in our society.
04:33Police Scotland focuses on resolving such matters, which is why I
04:36said in my first answer that I welcome the instruction from the
04:39Lord Advocate for a further investigation of the case.
04:44Neither I nor the justice secretary have spoken to the Wilson
04:47family about their concerns.
04:50Mr Ross raises the fact that I have expressed points in relation
04:55to previous cases in my constituency.
04:57I did that respectfully when I was on the back benches.
05:00I was not First Minister.
05:01It is a very different matter when the First Minister starts
05:04commenting on live cases, and I think that I need to avoid doing
05:08that for the sake of protecting the constitutional separation of
05:12responsibility for operational matters with Police Scotland.
05:17I say to Mr Ross that I have every sympathy with the Wilson family
05:21and I hope that the actions that the Lord Advocate is taking,
05:25and which have been pursued by Police Scotland, will provide a
05:28resolution to the deep concerns that the family has.