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Wick family to see death report Force criticised in secret report
(about 5 hours later)
The family of a man who died 10 years ago are to be told the findings of a report which looked into the behaviour of the police investigating the case. A confidential report has criticised how a police force investigated the death of a young Wick man 10 years ago.
The body of Kevin McLeod was found in Wick Harbour in February 1997. The body of Kevin McLeod was found in Wick Harbour in February 1997. His family believe it was not an accident.
Northern Constabulary said that the 24-year-old fell from the quayside after a night out. The review - parts of which have now been made public - said some procedures followed by Northern Constabulary "should be considered inappropriate".
The family believe there was more to his death and they made a Freedom of Information request to see paperwork on how the police acted at the time. Police said data protection prohibited the report being published in full, meaning its full context was lost.
The findings, which are due to be out on Friday, should show Mr McLeod's relatives how the police responded to the 60 complaints they made about the decision not hold a full investigation. The review was compiled by Central Scotland Police's Chief Constable Andrew Cameron and released under Freedom of Information rules, following a request from Mr McLeod's family.
The police have always maintained that there was no evidence the electrician was the victim of a crime. Ch Const Cameron's report looked at how Northern handled complaints into the way its officers investigated Mr McLeod's death.
But the McLeods, who have employed a former Strathclyde Police detective as a private investigator, maintain he was beaten up and murdered. The report clearly states that my officers have been subject to a series of allegations, which have been shown to have no basis in fact, and, on examination, do not have any credibility Chief Constable Ian Latimer
The family hope the 300-page document may offer new clues as to why police did not treat his death as murder. However, within it was criticism of some procedures.
How a Sudden Deaths - Station Register Form OP/50/8 was completed was described as setting "more questions to the enquiry team than answers".
It also "clouded the issues" surrounding the disposal of Mr McLeod's clothing.
On page 278 of the 284-page document, Ch Const Cameron further highlighted this particular area of concern.
He said: "It is the view of this enquiry that the procedures which were implemented by Northern Constabulary, in relation to the initial search of Kevin McLeod's body following his death in February 1997 should be considered inappropriate for the reasons previously discussed.
"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."
However, Ch Const Cameron added that the force had undertaken "much good work" to improve the quality of its investigatory response".
The senior officer, who was asked by Northern to carry out the review, said Mr McLeod's family were entitled to an apology "over the patent lack of communication in respect of their complaints".
Kevin McLeod had been on a night out when he died
The family have called for Northern's chief constable Ian Latimer to resign.
In a statement, Ch Const Latimer conceded that some complaints made against his officers could have been handled more professionally and that lessons had been learned.
But he also said: "The report clearly states that my officers have been subject to a series of allegations, which have been shown to have no basis in fact, and, on examination, do not have any credibility."