Scotland’s top law officer has promised to give “detailed consideration” to calls for a new investigation into the deaths of three RAF Lossiemouth crew in a mid-air Tornado jet collision.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain listened to Moray-based campaigner Jimmy Jones on Thursday for the case for a Fatal Accident Inquiry.
Mr Jones has been campaigning for an FAI for several years because he believes it is vital to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.
He described the two-and-a-half-hour meeting as “encouraging”.
Two previous lord advocates have rejected calls for such a hearing , despite a 2017 rule change meaning all military deaths in Scotland must now be subject to an FAI.
But the appointment of Ms Bain in June led to renewed hopes among campaigners that the case could be reconsidered.
The collision involved two RAF Lossiemouth-based jets and happened in bad weather on July 3, 2012, about seven nautical miles south-east of Helmsdale.
It caused the deaths of Squadron Leader Sam Bailey, 36, Flight Lieutenant Hywel Poole, 28, and Flight Lieutenant Adam Sanders, 27. A fourth crew member was injured.
‘Systemic failures’
Michael Poole, father of Flt Lt Hywel Poole, wrote to Ms Bain in July to ask that she reconsider the case for an FAI.
He warned that a previous Military Aviation Authority (MAA) investigation into the collision was conducted by officers who were “too close to the system” to recognise the “systemic failures” he believed existed.
Mr Jones and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross also wrote to Ms Bain, urging her to order an FAI.
The MAA probe found 17 contributory factors led to the tragedy, including the failure to fit collision warning systems to the Tornado GR4 jets and “ineffective” supervision of the crew.
The Crown Office has previously insisted that an FAI could “not better and would only repeat” the probe carried out by the MAA, which made 42 recommendations.
‘Listened carefully’
But a spokesman has now said: “The lord advocate listened carefully to what Douglas Ross MSP and Mr Jones had to say and noted all of the points they have raised.
“The points raised will be the subject of detailed consideration and addressed in correspondence in due course.”
Mr Jones said Ms Bain had showed “compassion, fairness and understanding” during the meeting.