A Fife couple who believe there was a miscarriage of justice in their son’s murder trial have taken a step forward in their fight for a change in the law.
Alan and Tina McLean hope to persuade the Scottish Parliament to introduce Barry’s Law, which would allow judges to request a review of jury decisions in certain circumstances.
They have launched a petition on the Scottish Parliament website, and if enough people sign it they hope to be invited to address the petitions committee.
They want judges to be given power to refer verdicts they consider a perverse acquittal to the High Court of Judiciary for potential retrial.
Mr McLean said: “Nothing we can do can bring Barry back but this would be a legacy for him.”
Barry, 27, died in May 2011, but Sean Kitchener, who stabbed him, walked free after a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh accepted his self-defence plea and cleared him of murder.
The McLeans, of Burntisland, say jurors, who took less than an hour to deliver their verdict, failed to properly assess the evidence.
Mr McLean, who has spent almost a year developing the perverse acquittal proposal, said: “It has been a lot of hard work to get to this stage but it will be worth it if it can prevent what has happened to us happening to another family.
“We wish we had had a camera to catch the look on the judge’s face when the system failed us.
“This is an opportunity for the justice system to have a safety net in place.”
The perverse acquittal process would be used where a not guilty verdict is believed by the judge to be irrational and unsupported by the prosecution evidence presented.
The deadline for signing the petition is March 27.
Picture by George McLuskie