Evidence given by a potential witness in the Lockerbie bombing investigation could have undermined the prosecution case against Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the atrocity in 2001, the High Court in Edinburgh was told yesterday.

However, a senior QC said, it was never presented at the trial.

Maggie Scott, QC, said that David Wright — a friend of Tony Gauci, the Maltese shop owner whose identification of al-Megrahi was crucial to his conviction — came forward to police in September 1989 and gave a statement to officers in England in December that year. Ms Scott said that Mr Wright gave a “remarkably” similar description of a sale made at Mr Gauci’s shop in Malta to the one used to implicate al-Megrahi.

Details of his statement, and whether it contradicted Mr Gauci’s evidence, had never been presented at the trial and had not been seen by the defence team.

Mr Gauci claimed that he had sold the former Libyan intelligence agent clothes which were inside the bomb-carrying suitcase which brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, killing all 270 people.

Al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal cancer, is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 27 years.

Yesterday lawyers preparing al-Megrahi’s appeal sought access to documents which they say could help to clear their client. Ms Scott said: “Mr Wright gives statements to police in England saying he was a friend of Mr Gauci and that he witnessed a transaction at Mr Gauci’s shop which bears remarkable resemblance to the sale to two men which Mr Gauci described.”

She went on to argue that the statement could have been used to undermine Mr Gauci’s testimony and that she wanted any documents relating to Mr Wright to be produced. Miss Scott also asked the Crown to hand over any documents with reference to Mr Gauci showing interest in a financial reward.

She claimed that he had several meetings with police and the FBI and requested any statements from those interviews. Ms Scott said: “There have been a large number of inconsistencies in the statements and it’s clear that there have been inconsistencies in statements made which have not been disclosed.”

Al-Megrahi’s lawyers are also seeking video footage of the identification parade in which he was singled out, as well as details of who was selected to participate. The defence team have asked for several pieces of evidence to be made available before al-Megrahi’s appeal, which is set to start on April 27.

Advocate depute Ronnie Clancy QC described Miss Scott’s demands as “unnecessary” and said that the Crown had handed over almost 8,000 statements. He said that what was sought by al-Megrahi’s legal team was not needed for the preparation or presentation of his appeal, and he reaffirmed the Crown’s position that it had no such documents. The pre-appeal hearing continues today.

Al-Megrahi was found guilty of the bombing at a trial at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, held under Scots law.

Although he lost a previous appeal against his conviction in 2002, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission referred his case back to court in June 2007. The commission found six grounds that may have constituted a miscarriage of justice.

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