Scotland’s First Minister has pledged lessons learned from an internal police investigation into DNA and fingerprint practice highlighted in Tayside will be rolled out nationwide.
The Courier last week revealedhundreds of criminal convictions could be overturned as a probe was launched into claims civilian staff were carrying out key duties at police stations in Dundee and Arbroath without the appropriate authority.
Labour’s shadow community safety minister Jenny Marra used a constituency supplementary question to quiz Alex Salmond on the issue at First Minister’s Questions.
The Dundee-based MSP said: “Has he (Mr Salmond) had reports of that happening anywhere else in Scotland?
“Will he reassure people in my region that the review will be conducted as swiftly and as thoroughly as possible, as there is a grave danger that evidence could be dismissed in serious cases because of that breach of protocol?”
The First Minister replied: “Yes, I can provide that reassurance. The review will be conducted as swiftly as possible and any lessons that are learned from it will be applied across the country.”
Ministers had previously been keen to distance themselves from revelations, with a spokesperson for the Scottish Government previously only saying that top level politicians were “being kept informed of the progress of the Police Scotland inquiry.”
The Courier also understands the Scottish Government rejected a Labour request for justice secretary Kenny MacAskill to make a Parliamentary statement on the matter earlier this week.
Police Scotland has previously confirmed it is “actively seeking clarification” on the role of civilian custody staff in taking DNA and fingerprint evidence.
The move was prompted by concerns about procedures used in the Tayside division, which came to light after The Courier obtained an email ordering all police staff at stations in Dundee and Arbroath to stop custody duties immediately.
The force said staff who may not be authorised to take fingerprints or DNA would no longer do so. A statement insisted there had been “no impact” on service provision.