The fingerprint expert at the heart of the Shirley McKie debacle will not be reinstated tomorrow despite last month�s tribunal ruling that she was unfairly dismissed.

Fiona Davidson and Lucy Adams

The fingerprint expert at the heart of the Shirley McKie debacle will not be reinstated tomorrow despite last month's tribunal ruling that she was unfairly dismissed.

The beleaguered Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) is now appealing against the ruling to reinstate sacked fingerprint expert Fiona McBride.

An employment tribunal ruled last month that 43-year-old Miss McBride was unfairly dismissed. She was awarded almost £32,000 compensation and the tribunal called for her to be reinstated by tomorrow.

The Glasgow tribunal also concluded that Miss McBride had not contributed towards her dismissal.

However, the SPSA confirmed yesterday that Miss McBride would not be returning to work as a fingerprint expert tomorrow and said they are appealing against the tribunal's decision to give her her job back.

Miss McBride was one of six specialists who had identified a fingerprint taken from the scene of a murder as that of Ms McKie, then a police officer At the trial of murder accused David Asbury, who was convicted and jailed for life, Ms McKie denied she had been at murder victim Marion Ross's home.

Ms McKie was charged with perjury but acquitted following the evidence of another fingerprint expert and was later awarded £750,000 in settlement of a civil damages claim against the Scottish ministers.

Miss McBride, from Clydebank, has consistently denied the print was misidentified. She told the tribunal she was absolutely sure it was the ex-police officer's print. She did not accept her position as a fingerprint expert was untenable.

In its written judgment, the tribunal said it was unreasonable not to consider her continuing in her role of the previous eight years as a non-court-going fingerprint officer.

A spokesman for SPSA said: "SPSA has written to the employment tribunal appealing on the grounds that the tribunal erred in law by concluding that it was practicable to reinstate Ms McBride to the role of non-court attending fingerprint officer, and that Ms McBride had not contributed to her dismissal.

"SPSA is limiting its appeal to the issue of the reinstatement and is not contesting the decision of the employment tribunal that Ms McBride was unfairly dismissed."