Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Father of stabbed Fife man renews call for change in law over knife crime

Barry McLean
Barry McLean

The enduring pain of losing of a loved one to knife crime has been highlighted by a heartbroken father at this poignant time of year.

Alan McLean has now had his seventh Christmas without son Barry, who died from a stab wound in May 2011, aged 27.

Since the man responsible for his death was cleared of murder, Alan, wife Petina and their family have campaigned to raise awareness of the horror of knife crime.

They have also fought for a change in the law, claiming that Barry, who left behind son Connor then only months old, was denied justice when his killer walked free.

Alan said: “Six years have gone by without seeing or hearing Barry’s voice and laughter.

“It’s the most difficult experience to lose a child no matter what age but when those special occasions arise Christmas, birthdays, etcetera, it brings everything flooding back in great detail and always will.

“Until a parent has experienced losing a child then no one understands the everlasting devastating pain and emptiness in your family life.

“The wrapping of Christmas presents was extremely difficult and painful.

“You know that you won’t be wrapping and giving gifts for your son, because someone decided to take his life with a knife.”

During his trial at Edinburgh High Court, Sean Kitchener admitted “poking” Barry with a kitchen knife but was cleared of murder when his plea of self-defence was accepted.

The McLeans have pushed in vain for a change in the law to allow judges to be allowed to refer ‘perverse acquittal’ jury verdicts for review in an appeal court.

They also organised a series of marches under the banner Ditch the Knives, Cherish Life.

Alan said: “We keep saying that our justice system needs radical change to ensure that the punishment fits the crime.

“Who and when is someone going to take ownership and responsibility for making change?”

Earlier this year justice secretary Michael Matheson told him that Scottish ministers could not comment on nor intervene in any court case or judicial decision.