JACK McCONNELL, the first minister, has been accused of misleading the Scottish parliament by telling MSPs that “all concerned” in the Shirley McKie case accepted they had made an “honest mistake”.

Lawyers acting for one of the fingerprint experts in the case have written to George Reid, Holyrood’s presiding officer, claiming that McConnell “lied” when he made the statement in parliament last week.

Fiona McBride, who does not accept there was any error, is one of four employees of the Scottish Criminal Records Office (SCRO) whose alleged mistake led to the Scottish executive last week paying McKie £750,000 compensation.

However last night it emerged that police warned ministers and justice officials more than five years ago of a “cover up and criminality” involving staff at the SCRO in the McKie case.

Last week’s award followed a nine-year battle by the former Strathclyde policewoman, to clear her name. She was arrested, suspended from the force, charged and subsequently cleared of perjury after denying claims that a fingerprint found at a murder scene was hers. The compensation payment was announced just minutes before a private prosecution against the SCRO and ministers was due to begin. A letter has been sent to Robert Black, the auditor general, asking him to investigate the decision.

When quizzed about the case during first minister’s questions on Thursday, McConnell told MSPs: “In this case it is quite clear — and this was accepted in the settlement that was announced on Tuesday — that an honest mistake was made by individuals. I believe that all concerned have accepted that.”

However, in a letter to Reid, David Russell, a solicitor acting for McBride, said the first minister had been told by staff at the SCRO that no mistake had been made. “In the circumstances, there is evidence that (McConnell) made false statements (in parliament),” the letter states.

The out-of-court settlement for damages, announced last week, provoked a storm of protest. Kenneth Macintosh, the Labour MSP for Eastwood, said the careers of four public servants had been ruined by a “campaign of manipulative misinformation”.

The dispute, which involved 10 separate inquiries, saw some of the world’s top fingerprint experts clash over whether a print found on a door frame belonged to McKie.

McKie, 43, a former detective constable, was involved in an investigation into the murder of Marion Ross, 51, at her home in Kilmarnock in 1997.

During the subsequent trial of David Asbury, a 21-year-old joiner, McKie gave evidence, but during this denied setting foot in the house, even though her fingerprint was alleged to have been found at the scene of the crime. Asbury was found guilty. After the trial McKie was arrested, suspended from the force and charged with perjury over her evidence.

In 1999, she was cleared of lying under oath after forensic experts from America successfully argued that the print did not belong to her. It was the first time in 100 years that a fingerprint identification had been overturned.

Staff at the SCRO continue to claim that there was no failing in their system and that the print must have belonged to McKie. Angered by last week’s payout, which they saw as a capitulation by the Scottish executive, more than 50 staff threatened a walkout, but were told the action would be illegal.

“The admission of a mistake was never acceptable to the SCRO and when Jack McConnell stood up in parliament and said otherwise, he was lying,” said Russell. “He either deliberately or inadvertently misled the Scottish parliament in which case he must return and clarify the situation.”

However in a report to the Crown Office in October 2000 Jim Mackay, the former deputy chief constable of Tayside Police, wrote: “There was criminality in involved in the actings of the SCRO experts and that... criminality first reared its head in February 1997.”

He added: “It should have been patently obvious... a mistake had been made and there were opportunities... for the mistake to be acknowledged. The fact that it was not... led to ‘cover up’ and criminality.”

Despite Mackay’s warning, neither the Crown Office nor the executive took any action against those claimed to be responsible.

The report was ordered by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in June 2000. The experts were suspended the following August.

A spokesman for McConnell said: “Everyone knows what the first minister said in parliament. Anybody is entitled to write to the presiding officer, but it is not the case parliament has been misled in any way.”

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