A cold case probe into the mystery death of a Wick man is being delayed as investigators require an old-style cassette player to transcribe evidence from a historic fatal accident inquiry.
The body of 24-year-old electrician Kevin Mcleod was recovered from Wick harbour after he had been on a night out in February 1997.
In 2017 police chiefs finally admitted legacy force Northern Constabulary had not treated the death as murder, despite a specific instruction from prosecutors to do so.
Police have since apologised for failures in the handling of the case.
Merseyside Police was instructed to review the case in 2019, and Kevin’s parents Hugh and June Mcleod were told a report was due to be submitted to the Crown Office this month.
But the family has now been informed of a bizarre delay, mainly down to difficulties in transcribing evidence of witnesses during a fatal accident inquiry held into the death in 1998, which delivered an open verdict.
Depute Crown Agent Lindsey Miller said: “I can confirm that the investigative team from Merseyside Police has concluded all identified lines of inquiry but before [the force’s] Assistant Chief Constable [Ian] Critchley can consider the investigative report in detail, we await completion of the transcripts from the FAI.
“Some original transcripts have been recovered from old case files but the remainder of witnesses’ evidence remains untranscribed due to a combination of competing work pressures and the ongoing restrictions due to the pandemic.
“The FAI was recorded on tape cassette, not digitally, so there requires to be access to the tapes and the machinery required to play them.
“We are seeking to expedite this process and will update you as soon as possible on progress with that.”
Kevin’s uncle Allan Mcleod said: “With today’s technology, it is difficult to comprehend that this further delay is apparently due to a setback by the authorities to obtain machinery, a vintage cassette player, to listen to witnesses evidence given during the 1998 FAI.
“This issue, we believe, should have been addressed prior to Merseyside beginning their inquiry, not at the end after particular professional and civilian witnesses had already been interviewed.”
The family said the the FAI itself had raised more questions than answers, with Allan Mcleod adding: “We continue to question why the fiscal’s instruction to police to investigate Kevin’s death as a murder, and the failure by police to act on this instruction, was not presented as evidence to the sheriff at the FAI, of which the sheriff had returned an ‘open verdict’.
“We firmly believe that if this crucial and key evidence had been revealed at the time and not hidden from the sheriff, we doubt very much that we would be still searching for answers 24 years later.
“The botched investigation into Kevin’s death is an epic scandal which even today threatens to undermine public trust and confidence regarding Scottish police, in particular Caithness detectives, when investigating violent crime, including the most serious – that of murder.
“What infuriated the family was that Northern Constabulary detectives did not look for any evidence of criminality despite the fiscal’s specific instruction to investigate Kevin’s death as murder.
“Also, crucial evidence, Kevin’s clothing, that should have been seized and forensically examined was immediately destroyed with no police officer apparently knowing where, when and by whom destroyed his clothing.
“Clearly, keeping an open mind was not an option by local detectives, instead from the very outset, and at every opportunity thereafter, police have attempted to square the circle into Kevin’s death being accidental. For that, we will never forgive Northern Constabulary.
“The incompetent manner in which Kevin’s death was investigated plus, the acts of persecution by Northern Constabulary towards the family was utterly scandalous.
“If there is no form of justice or accountability after Merseyside’s investigation this will be a further scandal.
“Kevin was aged 24 when he died, ironically, 24 years on, we are still fighting to get to the truth regarding the circumstances surrounding his horrific death.
“It’s very difficult to be patient given the years of pain and suffering that the family have endured but we hope and pray that matters are finally coming to a head.”
A report into the police handling of the case, published in 2002, concluded: “Despite interviews being undertaken with all officers who have had a connection with the property of Kevin Mcleod, this inquiry has failed to establish where, when and by whom the clothing of the deceased was destroyed.
“Northern Constabulary erred significantly by destroying the clothing in circumstances which clearly warranted its retention, particularly when the investigation was to be upgraded to the equivalent of a murder inquiry.
“The failure of the force to seize, retain and submit for examination the clothing worn by Kevin Mcleod at the time of his death remains inexplicable.”