A CORRUPT former Scottish Police Officer, Detective Inspector Richard Munro (53) has been jailed for FIVE YEARS after a trial found he had changed key witness statements in an investigation over a murder which took place 17 years ago.
Unusually there was no elaborate press release from the Crown Office, who usually publish lengthy media releases when their prosecutors secure such a lengthy sentence (no doubt due to the fact COPFS must be facing some questions for their handling of the prosecution and failure to detect Munro’s evidence tampering – Ed)
The Daily Record reports :
Police officer jailed for five years after helping convict two men for crime they didn't commit
Jul 25 2012 By Charlotte Thomson
A SENIOR policeman whose deceit led to two innocent men being jailed for murder was yesterday locked up for five years. Detective Inspector Richard Munro, 53, changed key witness statements as he investigated the murder of Andrew Forsyth 17 years ago. He concealed evidence and withheld statements to suit his theory about who killed Andrew.
But it led to Steven Johnston and Billy Allison spending 10 years behind bars. They were freed after a judge quashed their dodgy convictions – and now Munro is behind bars instead.
After sentencing yesterday at the High Court in Aberdeen, prosecutors said they had ordered a review of evidence gathered in connection with the murder. A Crown Office spokesman said: “Now that the Munro trial has concluded, the Crown have instructed a review of the evidence relating to the death.”
Johnston, 48, of Oakley, said: “I’d welcome any move to look into it. I know that there’s somebody out there who’s done it. “It’s more for Drew’s mother. I spoke to her during Munro’s trial and she’s not happy.”
Munro led the investigation after Andrew’s body was found in his home in East Wemyss, Fife, on November 5, 1995.
The Fife Constabulary officer had just been promoted and was in charge of his first murder case. But having made up his own mind about the case, he rejected information from witnesses that went against his own belief. Officers were instructed not to make further inquiries of witnesses claiming to have seen the murder victim alive in the days after November 3. The deception began to collapse when defence lawyers requested missing witness statements from the Crown Office.
Senior police questioned Munro about the missing evidence and he claimed not all of the information from door-to-door inquiries had been kept. He also discredited information given by the witnesses in question as unreliable.
Last month, Munro was found guilty of withholding information from prosecutors that could have helped the defence case.
