WATCH: Former detective on police culture during failed Highland harbour death inquiry
"Whistle-blowers don't do well in the police" says ex-cop who looked into Kevin Mcleod's unsolved Wick Harbour drowning.
Last updated 6th Feb 2020
'Work is ongoing' to give a family a more open version of a report into a historic Highland harbour death.
Police Scotland's telling the family of Kevin Mcleod it's their 'priority' to 'minimise any redactions' about the botched 1997 inquiry into his unexplained drowning.
Northern Constabulary censored the 2002 Cameron Report which names officers accused of 'potential misconduct', but those seven pages are missing from the family's copy.
It took the Mcleods five years to get hold of the report in 2007 - albeit heavily redacted - after a lengthy fight against the system, which was helped by the intervention of the Information Commissioner.
The report author - former Central Scotland Police chief constable, Andrew Cameron - wrote on pages 193 and 194: '...an assurance was given to Northern Constabulary officers that misconduct action against them was not envisaged...This assurance resulted in the majority of interviews with police officers proceeding on an open and apparently frank basis.
'Throughout the extensive and detailed interview process and the examination of a huge raft of correspondence, a number of issues arose which gave rise to consideration of the conduct of various officers below the rank of Chief Officer and which inferred potential misconduct. These are as follows: handwritten annotation: 'Following paragraphs removed up to p201'.
WHAT IS THE CAMERON REPORT?
Speaking exclusively to MFR News, former Strathclyde detective Iain Mckie says there was a different culture within the legacy forces across Scotland 21-years-ago.
He said: "Whistle-blowers don't do well in any organisation, and they certainly don't do well in the police.
"The police was a family, and if you turned against the family, and told a different story, it was seen as disloyal.
"You do not go against the police culture. You do not put other police officers in the spot. You accept the decisions that are made.
"If you make a mistake in the police, and you're found, you are crucified, and I think the police too as a service are crucified, so they don't want to admit a mistake."
The retired ex-cop, who has 30-years of experience and retired at the rank of superintendent looked into Kevin's case in detail at the request of the family to help their campaign for justice.
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'Police Scotland has come to conclusion that, because of the initial police investigation failures and based upon the evidence now available, we are unable to present any evidence which would clearly indicate the circumstances surrounding the cause of Kevin’s death either criminally or accidentally' - DCC IAIN LIVINGSTONE
On December 22nd last year the man currently leading Police Scotland met with Kevin's family after flying from Edinburgh to Wick.
In a letter which the DCC handed to the grieving family, he wrote: 'I apologise unreservedly for the policing response which followed the death of your son Kevin in February 1997.
'It is unquestionable that since this tragic incident numerous investigations and enquiries have substantiated your belief that there were serious and numerous failings on the part of Northern Constabulary in both the initial and subsequent investigations.
'It is Police Scotland’s unequivocal position that we fully accept that an instruction was indeed given by the then Procurator Fiscal to treat Kevin’s death as a murder and to investigate it accordingly, a matter which Northern Constabulary at that time failed to do.
'There is no doubt that basic policing procedures at this time such as door to door enquiries were never carried out and subsequently the opportunity to gather vital evidence missed.'
'During a recent comprehensive review of this case Police Scotland has come to conclusion that, because of the initial police investigation failures and based upon the evidence now available, we are unable to present any evidence which would clearly indicate the circumstances surrounding the cause of Kevin’s death either criminally or accidentally.
LISTEN: Shadow Justice Secretary Liam Kerr welcomes progress towards justice for Kevin - our extended 1pm report on MFR 2...
Our reporter Bryan Rutherford was the only journalist invited for an interview with Livingstone following the official apology, and speaking about the Cameron Report, the DCC promised: "I’ve given that undertaking that as much information as I can lawfully share, I will."
The dramatic U-turn came after a four month-long negotiation between representatives of Kevin's family - including Caithness and Sutherland MSP Gail Ross - and DCC Livingstone, and those discussions were also the subject of oversight by the constabulary's lawyers.
The admission potentially caused a headache for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service which was contradicted, because the COPFS had nine months before that sent correspondence to mum and dad, June and Hugh stating: 'COPFS are satisfied that a full investigation into the circumstances of Kevin's death has taken place.'
Four months after MFR News reported that discrepancy, the Lord Advocate wrote to the parents in April this year to inform them that he had: 'instructed that an experienced prosecutor in the Crown Office Criminal Allegations Against the Police Division review the case independently.'
Today MFR News is reporting on a letter sent from Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs to the Mcleods mid-month April, in which he claims: 'Please be assured that work is ongoing to provide you with a copy of Chief Constable Andrew Cameron's report from 2002, you will recall my intention was to minimise any redactions within that report and this remains my position, I will respond to you as a priority on this matter.'
An ongoing fresh police probe into one of the North's biggest potential murder mysteries is continuing, after an MFR News investigation revealed a new witness had come forward, claiming he saw the final moments of Kevin's life.
WATCH HOW THE PIECES ARE COMING TOGETHER...
Detectives from the national force's Specialist Crime Division say the man's statement led to 'new information' requiring 15-'potential witnesses' to be questioned in Wick and Inverness.
MFR broke the news after Police Scotland's first-ever public appeal for information about the case, on the 21st anniversary of Kevin's death, which was staged as a press conference earlier in the year.