Lord Cullen, formerly of the Dunblane Inquiry, to chair FAI probe

Lord Cullen, the famous Judge who chaired the Dunblane Inquiry, which left more questions than answers, has been selected by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, to chair the probe announced into Scotland's system of Fatal Accident Inquiries ...

We are left wondering whether it was Kenny MacAskill who selected Lord Cullen, or the legal establishment itself ....

The Herald reports :

Fatal accident inquiries probe welcomed by campaigners

DAVID LEASK March 08 2008

Scotland's system of fatal accident inquiries is heading for its first overhaul in three decades.

Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill yesterday announced a review of the hearings, delighting campaigners who have fought for years for them to be beefed up.

Mr MacAskill appointed one of the country's most respected legal minds, Lord Cullen, to look at ways of making the rarely held inquiries "fit for purpose". The retired Lord Justice General, who led investigations into the Dunblane shootings and Piper Alpha, is expected to take around a year to do so.

The minister said: "Although we believe the system has served Scotland well in the main, concerns have been raised in recent years.

"The Scottish Government has listened to these concerns and that is why we want to see a more fundamental examination of the fatal accident inquiry system."

Campaigners - led by MSPs and the Enable Scotland, a charity which supports disabled people in the community - have long argued that FAIs can take too long to organise and that any recommendations they generate are not binding.

At present all sudden, accidental, unexpected or unexplained deaths are investigated by procurators-fiscal, but only a small number, around 60 a year, are scrutinised in detail by a sheriff in an FAI.

Enable raised concerns over FAIs after it discovered recommendations on the care of disabled people in hospital were not followed after a hearing into the death of one of its clients.

The charity's chief executive, Norman Dunning, last night said: "We are absolutely delighted that the Scottish Government has decided to review the FAI system. As it stands, the system neither supports bereaved families, nor benefits the public good.

"The findings of FAIs are often not properly enforced because of a lack of central monitoring. The current system means that inquiries can go on for many years, which is distressing for families.

"We hope that the review will lead to a system where bereaved families genuinely feel that lessons are learned and acted upon in a transparent way."

The review is also expected to look at whether FAIs should be held in the deaths of Scots abroad. Several MPs and MSPs have raised concerns the deaths of Scottish servicemen killed in Iraq and Afghanistan are investigated by overworked coroners in the south of England.

Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster-based defence spokesman, argued the deaths of 14 personnel from RAF Kinloss in a Nimrod crash in Kandahar, Afghanistan, showed the need for reforms.

Mr Robertson said: "My own concerns stem particularly from the delays in inquiries into service personnel fatalities, of up to five years."

Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth last night appeared sympathetic. He said: "The current system of FAIs in Scotland is preventing us from providing families with what they want: timely inquiries held near where they live."

MP John Thurso calls for review of Wick Harbour death investigation

A Westminster Member of Parliament, John Thurso MP has called for a fresh investigation into the death of Kevin McLeod at Wick Harbour in February 1997.

The family of Kevin McLeod have had little success with Northern Constabulary over their calls for a proper investigation into Kevin's death over ten years ago, but independent reports have found a culture of failure with Northern Constabulary's initial investigation, which many believe must now be resolved with an independent investigation by another Police force.

The Scotsman reports :

MP calls for fresh review of evidence in case of body in harbour

By JOHN ROSS

THE Lord Advocate is being urged to authorise an independent review of evidence in a ten-year-old case involving a man found dead in a harbour.

The body of Kevin McLeod, 24, was found after a night out in Wick in February 1997. His family believe he was murdered, but Northern Constabulary maintain the death was accidental.

Ian Latimer, the force's chief constable, has ruled out a fresh review, but John Thurso, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP, has asked Elish Angiolini to consider the merits of another examination of evidence.

He said: "I have asked the Lord Advocate to look at an independent review of the evidence gathered in order to bring closure to the matter."

Two inquiries by Northern Constabulary were held which said Mr McLeod's death was accidental. A later fatal accident inquiry recorded an open verdict.

In 2002 an independent review was carried out by Andrew Cameron, the Chief Constable of Central Scotland Police, who looked into the family's complaints about the handling of the investigation.

In the same year Mr Latimer sought to draw a line under the investigation, saying there was "nowhere else to go".

A report in November by Jim Martin, Scotland's Police Complaints Commissioner, who was asked to examine the investigation, accused Northern Constabulary of "institutional arrogance" and ordered Mr Latimer to apologise to the McLeod family, who have consistently complained about the way the case was dealt with.

Mr Martin called on Mr Latimer to improve relations with family members and recommended the Northern Joint Police Board should meet them to apologise for the way the force handled their complaints.

He also criticised the McLeod family, who sent 277 letters and visited officers at their homes, for the tone of some of the complaints.

When Mr McLeod's body was found it was initially thought he had drowned, but a doctor later discovered serious abdominal injuries. A police investigation concluded that the injuries came from him falling on a bollard.

The family claims that Mr McLeod's clothes were destroyed before being forensically tested, the harbour was not cordoned off and searched for evidence, potential witnesses were not pursued and there were inadequate door-to-door inquiries.

The commissioner said Mr Latimer acknowledged that elements of the initial investigation were handled poorly and had instigated reviews of procedures.

Mr Thurso, who chaired a meeting between the chief constable and the McLeod family in December, added: "One outcome of an independent review might be that someone looks at it and says the evidence is inconclusive but it has been properly investigated. Another possibility is a recommendation to the Crown that there are further investigations to be undertaken.

"I have suggested it would be good for all concerned that a review takes place. I would expect the Lord Advocate to take some time to deliberate and consult before responding."

A Northern Constabulary spokeswoman said: "We understand that John Thurso has written to the Lord Advocate directly on this issue. We await the outcome of that with interest.

"Any correspondence with Kevin McLeod's family has and will remain confidential."

The letters between the family of Kevin McLeod who died at Wick Harbour in 1997 and the Chief Constable of Northern Constabulary Ian Latimer follow, showing the intense hardship by officialdom in Scotland, placed upon a grieving family in their fight to obtain justice for their loss.

Rather than forcing a family through a continuing period of suffering and anguish, where it seems a murder has taken place rather than just a death, the right thing to do would be to hold a new inquiry ....

Firstly, the letter from the Mcleod family to Chief Constable Ian Latimer of Northern Constabulary :

5 January 2008.
Dear Mr. Latimer,

Death of Kevin McLeod.

May I on behalf of our family pass on good wishes to you and your force for 2008.

We hope that this will be the year when we can all put the past behind us and move on confident that all the lessons associated with Kevin’s death have been learned and that procedures have been put in place to ensure it never happens again.

We were extremely grateful to you for meeting us in December and delivering an unreserved apology for the manner in which you and some of your officers had treated us following Kevin’s tragic death in 1997.

Everyone at the meeting expressed the wish that we all move forward as soon as possible.

As stated we believe that this will not be possible until a Totally Independent ‘Cold Case Review’ of the police investigation into Kevin’s death is undertaken.

Our initial complaints were initiated because of a complete lack of faith in every aspect of Northern Constabulary’s investigation and their handling of our subsequent complaints. These reservations have been overwhelmingly endorsed in the Fatal Accident Inquiry Findings, the Andrew Cameron Report and the PCCS Report.

We are now in the position that the only aspect of Kevin’s death that has not been independently reviewed is the actual police investigation.

We do not consider the Crown Office review of the information supplied by your investigating officers to be independent or constitute the necessary objective re-assessment of the investigation.

More than anything, having spent the last eleven years fighting for justice for Kevin, we want to move on. We see such an enquiry as an essential pre-requisite to this goal and urge you to take that final step and initiate the Independent ‘Cold Case Review’.

You can be assured that my family and I will co-operate fully with the review.

Yours Sincerely,
Mr Hugh McLeod.

The reply to the Mcleod family from Chief Constable Ian Latimer :

30 January 2008

Dear Mr and Mrs Mcleod,

As promised I now take the opportunity to respond to the outstanding issue from our very constructive meeting on the 19 December 2007 in Wick.

I have taken some little time to reflect on the questions which you posed to consult where appropriate and to obtain necessary advice which includes relevant dialogue with the Crown.

I am seeking to be as helpful as possible having taken the opportunity to meet with you and to unreservedly apologise to you for the failings in the initial investigation and in the initial handling of your complaints.

The subsequent investigations into the death of your son have been subject to a level of independent scrutiny which is largely without precedent in Scotland. The Crown have independently considered all submissions by the Force with these Reports being considered by not only the Area Procurator Fiscal for the Highlands and Islands but also by senior advocates within the Crown office.

Whilst I am constrained by the statutory relationship to the Constabulary has with the Crown regarding the responses that I can give to your questions, I am willing to explore how a further structured meeting in the presence of, I would suggest, Lord Thurso, could be arranged to enable me to provide answers to the questions which you still have. The confidentiality of any information shared at such a meeting should be paramount and your acceptance of this would be a pre-requisite.

For the same reasons attendance would have to be restricted to the immediate family and an independant observer of the stature of Lord Thurso whose presence I am sure you will agree was extremely helpful at our earlier meeting.

As the Police Complaints Commissioner for Scotland in his Report confirms, the independent view of the Crown is that there are no outstanding issues or questions which remain to be investigated into the death of your son. Any new information which you might have should be shared with either the Constabulary or the Crown. I can assue you that any new information shared directly with the Constabulary would be brought to the attention of the Crown and direction sought regarding any consideration of subsequent investigation.

Whilst the case remains subject to periodic internal review and is, in that sense, still open, I see no opportunity or reasoning to support a more wide-ranging review given that the actions and investigations undertaken by the Constabulary have been subject to independent consideration by the Crown on a number of previous occasions.

I am aware that at your meeting with the Convener Mr Norman Macleod, the Vice-Convenor Mr Ian Ross and the Clerk to the Northern Joint Police Board Ms Roslyn Pieroni earlier this month you raised a number of questions which you described to them as remaining unanswered. I have at the request of the Convener provided a confidential briefing to assist them in any response that they would wish to make.

The questions posed by you with regard to the investigation into the death of your son Kevin are largely those you raised in 2001 and formed the basis of the subsequent investigation which was reported to the Crown and concluded to their satisfaction in early 2002. There are no outstanding issues from the questions you raise that have not been properly investigated and concluded.

I hope you will respond positively to my proposal for a further meeting and if you do wish to progress this, our agreed point of contact, Inspector Julian Innes, will contact you.

Yours Sincerely
Ian J Latimer QPM MA
Chief Constable:

Northern Constabulary Chief 'considers' new investigation into Wick harbour death.

After damning reports on the disgraceful conduct of Northern Constabulary towards the family of Kevin Mcleod, who is thought to have been murdered at Wick Harbor over ten years ago, the force's Chief Constable claims he is 'considering' a new investigation into the case.

Surely a "Yes, there will be a new independent investigation" would be the correct thing to say ...

The Herald reports :

Police chief ‘considers’ new inquiry into harbour death

IAN GRANT and DAVID ROSS

The mysterious death of a young Scot almost 11 years ago could be the subject of a new police investigation.

The prospect emerged yesterday at a meeting between Northern Constabulary's Chief Constable Ian Latimer and members of Kevin McLeod's family.

Mr Latimer apologised for the shortcomings of his force in the initial inquiry and in its response to the family's subsequent welter of complaints.

He also agreed to consider the family's request that an outside force review the circumstances surrounding the 24-year-old's unsolved death in his home town of Wick in February 1997.

After his body was recovered from the town's harbour, a post-mortem examination revealed severe damage to some of his internal organs.

His parents, Hugh and June McLeod, and uncle Allan McLeod are convinced he was brutally beaten shortly before he ended up in the water.

Police investigations failed to find evidence of foul play and a fatal accident inquiry recorded an open verdict.

Yesterday's meeting in Wick Assembly Rooms was convened after a recent report by Scottish Police Complaints Commissioner Jim Martin.

Mr Martin accused Northern Constabulary of "institutional arrogance" in its dealings with the family and called on Mr Latimer to tender an overdue apology.

MP John Thurso, who chaired yesterday's two-hour private meeting, said: "Mr Latimer apologised unreservedly to the McLeod family in the manner recommended by Mr Martin.

"It's an apology which the family have accepted in full."

Mr Latimer had told the family he would contact the Crown Office early in the new year to discuss the family's request for a new inquiry.

Northern Constabulary guilty of failures of investigation in unexplained Wick Harbour death

A report compiled four years ago by Andrew Cameron, chief constable of Central Police into Northern Constabulary's investigation into the death of 24 year old Kevin McLeod, and kept secret until now, reveals a disgraceful catalogue of errors on the part of Northern Constabulary which remain without explanation.

The incident, investigated by Northern Constabulary as a 'sudden death', although long thought to be a murder, raises significant questions over the performance of both the Police & Crown Office, where it also comes to light the opinion of one of the prosecutors , Procurator Fiscal Alasdair MacDonald, who believed the death of Kevin McLeod to be suspicious, was left out of the report ....

Kevin Mcleod's family await not only an apology, but a proper investigation and accounting of what happened to their son.

The Sunday Mail reports :

Blunder Cops Rapped Over Dead Clubber

Oct 21 2007 By Marion Scott

Exclusive: Police Chief Accuses Officers Of 'Inexplicable' Errors In Harbour Death Probe

A SENIOR police officer has found colleagues guilty of "inexplicable" blunders in their investigation of a 24-year-old clubber's death.

Kevin McLeod's grieving family are convinced three men battered him to death and dumped him in Wick Harbour.

Now for the first time an official police report reveals damning evidence that Northern Constabulary were wrong to dismiss Keith's death as accidental.

The report by Andrew Cameron, chief constable of Central Police, was kept under wraps for four years and only released after pressure from Kevin's family.

It slams Northern for not apologising to the family and calls for a shake-up in the way they investigate sudden deaths.

Mistakes highlighted by the Cameron report include:

Failing to realise the significance of diamond-shaped marks on Kevin's body even after a procurator fiscal instructed them to treat the death as suspicious.

Failing to keep the clothes worn by Kevin at the time of his death as evidence.

Failing to photograph and record Kevin's injuries properly. Electrician Kevin, 24, was found dead in Wick harbour 10 years ago after a night out at the town's Waterfront Club.

His father Hugh and mother June have battled to prove he was murdered and not the victim of a tragic accident as police insist.

His spleen, liver and pancreas were ruptured and he lost so much blood he would have been unable to get up on his own.

The Cameron inquiry calls for Northern to review management of suspicious deaths, training and staffing.

Cameron stated: "The failure of the force to seize, retain and submit for examination the clothing worn by KevinMcLeod remains inexplicable."

He added: "The efficiency with which photographic evidence of injury was initially instructed and secured and subsequently assessed over a period of three years is open to question.

"It is not helped by what appears to be a lack of acknowledgement by the force and the Department of Pathology, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness as to the potential significance of the "diamond" pattern mark on the body of Kevin McLeod." Cameron concluded:

"It is this inquiry's view that had the existence and significance of the marks been properly recognised, the investigation may well have been directed differently.

"It is the conclusion of this inquiry that the McLeod family are entitled to an apology from Northern Constabulary over the patent lack of communication of their complaints."

The Cameron report was completed in 2003 but only given to the family this year following a freedom of information request.

A second investigation into Northern's handling of the case by the new Police Complaints Comissioner Jim Martin is expected later this year.

Kevin's uncle Allan McLeod, 49, said: "Even though the Cameron Report supports everything we've known for 10 years, we do not believe anyone will ever be brought to justice for killing Kevin.

"We know the names of three men we believe were responsible for Kevin's death.

"But we have not one shred of confidence that the police will ever do anything about it because they do not want to admit they are wrong.

"We have not received any proper apology from the force."

Northern Constabulary said: "As a result of this independent inquiry, all issues raised by the McLeod family have been dealt with.

"Consideration was given to where improvements could be made and these have been implemented.

"The case has been subject to a great deal of scrutiny and the chief constable will not be reopening the inquiry."

Riddle Of Prosecutor Whose Evidence Was Ignored

Oct 21 2007

Exclusive: Police Chief Accuses Officers Of 'Inexplicable' Errors In Harbour Death Probe

ONE man's verdict on whether Kevin was murdered is missing from the Cameron report.

The victim's family believe Procurator Fiscal Alasdair MacDonald could be key to mounting a case - but he was not interviewed by Chief Constable Cameron. Kevin's uncle Allan McLeod said: "We're incensed that the very man who believed Kevin's death was suspicious was missed out of this report.

"He should have been the first person to be interviewed and the fact he wasn't can only raise our suspicions of a cover-up."

Central Police said questions on the Cameron Report should be answered by the Northern Joint Police Board.

But the Northern Joint Police Board insisted they were "unable to comment".

In the report, Cameron claims MacDonald was "unavailable" to be interviewed. But in a further twist MacDonald has written to the McLeod family saying he would have been happy to co-operate.

He wrote: "Whilst I have no wish to add to the controversy surrounding this matter, I fear I must. I cannot imagine upon what possible basis I could be described as unavailable for interview.

"Despite researches, neither my office manager nor I have any recollection of any contact by the author of this report."

The Crown Office said they did not have "anything further to add" to MacDonald's comments.

Crown Office offer untenable explanations over Annie Borjesson death - still withholding evidence & FAI

The Crown Office, who can always be depended upon to lie through their teeth when caught out in an investigation, have offered up the poorest explanation of anomalies to the family of Annie Borjesson, who died at Prestwick in December 2005.

When the body of the young Swedish woman was returned to her family, Guje Borjesson questioned why her daughters hair had been hacked off, only to be now told it was the undertakers who did it, allegedly to present the body in better circumstances.

The death of Annie Borjesson, which has not yet received a Fatal Accident Inquiry, despite a complete lack of explanation for the death, raises many questions of why the Crown Office have been covering up what seem to be a catalogue of failures on their part, and of the Police investigation into the death, which has seen little or no accountability of events.

The family of Annie Borjesson await a proper inquiry & investigation into their daughters death and release of all the evidence in the case, along with CCTV footage, still under possession of the Crown.

The family's website for a campaign for an investigation into Annie's death can be found here : http://www.annierockstar.com

Read some more about the case from the Scotsman, here : I must know the truth behind my daughter's death

The Sunday Mail reports :

Undertakers Hack Off Annie's Locks

Oct 21 2007 By Marion Scott

Exclusive Mum Of Death Riddle Daughter Wanted To Buy Wig For Corpse

THE body of a Swedish woman who died in Scotland was sent home with her waist-length hair hacked off.

Annie Borjesson's mum is convinced her hair was chopped by her killer.

But the Crown Office have revealed it was cut by funeral staff who did not want the family to see it matted in mud and debris from the sea.

Police say Annie, 30, drowned herself at Prestwick beach.

But mum Guje, 54, who lives near Gothenburg with husband Karoly, said: "The funeral staff said they cut her hair but I don't believe they would have taken it like that. It was roughly hacked off.

"It looked so bad I even considered getting a wig because I knew she would not want to be left like that.

"My daughter had never cut her hair in her life."

The Crown Office said: "It was cut while preparing the body for transfer."

Pathologist Dr Alan J Cromie said: "The hair gets matted or dirty in drowning cases and funeral staff try to present the body as best they can for the family."

Musician Annie came to Edinburgh two years ago and worked at the city's Scottish Whisky Heritage Centre.

Her body was found on December 4, 2005. Her family didn't believe it was suicide and offered a £10,000 reward for information.

The Crown Office added: "There has been a full probe into the death. There is no evidence of a crime."

Fatal Accident Inquiry called for in the death of Annie Borgesson

The Crown Office's lack of substantive explanations to the family of deceased Annie Borgesson, show a typically hostile approach by the Crown Office to anyone who takes issue with it's lack of competence in performing the functions mandated to it in Law.

The Crown Office's methods of dealing with suspicious deaths, and poor investigation handling are familiar to many in the Scots legal profession, and the following case as reported in the Edinburgh News, on the death of Annie Borgesson, shows there is a requirement for full reform of the FAI system, where transparency and accountability are certainly NOT the order of the day ...

The Edinburgh News reports :

Fatal Accident Inquiry called for in the death of Annie Borgesson

SANDRA DICK

THE flowers on the white coffin were Saltire sky blue and white, the single thistle on the lid another poignant reminder of the country Annie Borgesson fell in love with.

And as the rain clouds gathered outside the 15th-century church in Sweden, the mellow voice of a young woman who came to Edinburgh seeking new experiences only to die a mysterious death on a beach in Ayrshire, echoed in song through the building.

For Annie's heartbroken mother, Guje Borgesson, being able to lay her pretty and talented daughter to rest earlier this summer - a whole 19 months after her sudden death - brought, at last, a little comfort.

But she says the questions of how it ever came to that and the mystery surrounding Annie's loss - with new riddles emerging even now - simply will not go away.

Which is why today Guje is preparing to step up her determined fight to unravel the mysteries surrounding Annie's death with a major leaflet campaign around the Ayrshire communities near where she died and here in Edinburgh, where she lived, worked and socialised.

It appeals for anyone with information concerning her death, or who may have seen her in the hours before her body was found, to contact the family through a tribute website set up to highlight her case. And it comes as Guje digests new information - just confirmed to the family - that unidentified female DNA was discovered underneath Annie's fingernails.

"This has been so new and shocking for us," says Guje, speaking from her Stockholm home. "This is something the pathologist must have found out at the very early stages but which we are only finding out about now.

"Something we feel has been withheld from us all this time." Police say Annie's death - her body was found on the shore of Prestwick beach on Sunday, December 4, 2005 - was either suicide or she suffered a bizarre accident.

Annie's mother, however, is convinced she was the victim of a crime, that circumstances surrounding her death have never been fully explained and her pleas for further investigation or a fatal accident inquiry have been unfairly dismissed.

The leaflet appeal is just one stage, in what could become a major push for sweeping changes to the Scottish legal system. For Guje hopes that Annie's case could form the heart of a national campaign culminating with a "silent walk" to the Scottish Parliament, all aimed at highlighting the plight of families seeking justice.

Certainly, her refusal to accept her daughter killed herself meant Annie's body was kept in cold storage until earlier this summer, for a string of tests and investigations in her home country. It meant the funeral was delayed until June.

"Annie knew so many people, she loved being in Edinburgh and she was making plans for the future," says Guje. "Someone, somewhere must be able to tell us something about why she died. I am convinced she was murdered."

Annie arrived in Scotland from her family home in Tibro, near Gothenburg, in 2004, a well-educated young woman, musical, free-spirited and recognisable by her flowing long blonde hair, with hopes of expanding her knowledge of the English language by living and working in the capital city.

She took on a work placement at the Scottish Whisky Heritage Centre in the Royal Mile. She called home regularly from digs at Linton Court Apartments in Murieston Road to tell her mum how much she loved the work, meeting new people and the beauty of the city she'd chosen as her home.

All was well, recalls Guje, until the week just before her death.

"Annie was the kind of girl who, if she had a problem, she would discuss it," recalls the 54-year-old. "She called her brother a few times, once to ask how people could be traced on computers. She didn't explain why she wanted to know. And then she said that we should not call her on the apartment phone.

"She seemed upset in some way. I called her on Friday, December 2 to ask her if she was all right," continues Guje. "I said 'Annie, what's the matter, we are very worried'.

"She said she couldn't talk, she was with a colleague. Then she said something I'd never heard her say before. She said 'You have to respect this, but I have to take care of myself'.

"It was very odd," Guje adds. "But I thought that, well, she's 30 years old, I can't interfere yet I'm her mother. I thought I'd leave it and telephone her later . . . "

Annie is thought to have been making her way to Prestwick Airport for a flight home to Sweden when she died. Her bruised body was found on Prestwick beach at around 8.30am on Sunday, December 4, 2005, her waist-length blonde hair, Guje later discovered when she saw her daughter's lifeless body, had been cruelly hacked off. That act, plus a string of other bizarre incidents surrounding her death, have convinced Guje that Annie did not kill herself. Yet she believes the legal system dismissed her daughter's death as suicide before a thorough investigation had taken place.

"They decided two days later that this was suicide," she sighs. "It was as if they had made up their minds right away. I need a fatal accident inquiry - there are so many strange circumstances that need to be considered."

Bizarre bruises on Annie's body; her cropped hair - "she never allowed anyone but me or her hairdresser here at home to cut her hair," argues Guje - a mysterious man she is believed to have been seen talking to the day before her body was found and even the likelihood that she would choose to drown herself at a spot where the water is typically only a metre deep . . . questions that haunt Guje as the second anniversary of Annie's death approaches.

Yet Strathclyde Police insists: "The death of Ms Borgesson was fully investigated at the time and a report on the circumstances surrounding her death was submitted to the procurator fiscal."

And a spokeswoman for the Crown Office adds: "At present there is no evidence that a crime has occurred. Any new information that is made available to the procurator fiscal will be given consideration."

Fatal accident inquiries - court probes into the circumstances surrounding a sudden death - are held where there are issues of public safety or matters of general public concern arising from a death. The aim then is to highlight hazardous or dangerous circumstances or systems that have caused or contributed to it. But, says South of Scotland MSP Christine Grahame - who campaigned for an FAI surrounding the death of Cavendish Club bouncer Stuart Foster, the system is in need of a major overhaul.

"The current system is highly unsatisfactory," she says. "There are issues about what kind of incidents the Crown Office should consider appropriate for an FAI, the length of time for the Crown Office takes to proceed with an FAI and the idea that one person - the procurator fiscal - should be able to say 'yes or no' to an FAI, need to be looked at.

"I am meeting the Lord Advocate and I have spoken to the cabinet secretary for justice informally on this. And if I'm not happy I will consider the options for bringing forward a Members Bill."

Guje believes Annie's death - and her push for an FAI - may help in the drive to change the FAI system. "We would expect from a democratic country like Scotland to deal with such serious issues, when someone dies in mysterious circumstances, to look into them.

"I want to gather other cases together too. I think when we show that this isn't about a single case, it's about a lot of cases where people feel they have been neglected.

"How can I get on with my life if I don't get the truth?" she sighs. "I have to do this for Annie."

• Did you know Annie while she lived in Edinburgh? Or do you have information to pass to her family - Leave details at http://www.annierockstar.com

Fatal Accident Inquiry system review sought by Borders MSP

The FAI system comes under the spotlight today as Borders MSP Christine Grahame makes her case for a constituent to the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill after having to fight for more than three years to get the eventual FAI and conclusion, which is far from satisfactory.

As most solicitors who have taken on clients trying to get FAIs into the deaths of their loved ones, the process can be a long drawn out difficult affair, made all the worse by the mostly belligerent attitude of the Crown Office towards anyone who would seek to challenge their rulings when there shouldn't be an FAI.

There have been a crop of cases where not just an FAI has been denied to a case of an unresolved & unaccountable death, but also a lack of a proper investigation into the circumstances of that death. Many in private practice would acknowledge the need for review & reform in the FAI system, but on the other side of the coin, the Crown Office protects its right to hand down judgements as it sees fit.

The mood of the public would certainly seem to indicate a desire for reform of the FAI system but what course will the Scottish Executive take ?

Review call after barman's death (BBC NewsOnline)

A Borders MSP has written to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill seeking an urgent review of the fatal accident inquiry system.

The SNP's Christine Grahame said the time taken to deliver a ruling could cause families "unnecessary heartache".

She made her comments after the recent conclusion of an inquiry into the death of Kelso barman Stuart Foster in 2004.

A spokesperson for the Crown Office said investigating deaths had to be done "thoroughly and professionally".

Ms Grahame was involved in efforts to secure an inquiry into the death of Mr Foster who died after a drinking session Cavendish Club in Edinburgh in June 2004.

We had to fight for three years to get a conclusion to this fatal accident inquiry
Willie Foster

Sheriff Kathrine Mackie delivered her ruling on his death last week.

"It has taken more than three years for a report into his death to be completed," said Ms Grahame.

"Three years which have left Stuart's parents Willie and Margaret exhausted and ultimately devastated."

The young barman's father has also expressed concern about how the case was handled.

"We had to fight for three years to get a conclusion to this fatal accident inquiry," said Mr Foster.

"In the first instance, we waited two years after Stuart's death before we were told we were going to get one.

"It has been an absolute nightmare for me and my wife Margaret."

He said it took considerable effort to secure an inquiry.

"I think what the Crown were trying to do was sicken us in the hope that we would go away," said Mr Foster.

"I am morally, mentally and physically exhausted."

'Highly sensitive'

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said it had to balance the difficulty of cases with the need to deal with them quickly.

"Investigating deaths is a highly sensitive and complex area of work, and it is vital that procurators fiscal investigate deaths thoroughly and professionally," she said.

"The length of time taken to investigate will vary depending on the individual circumstances of each case.

"Procurators fiscal are aware of the upset and distress which is felt by next of kin and always seek to progress matters as quickly as possible."