A school friend of the man convicted in the Orkney waiter murder case claims she can provide him with a watertight alibi.
A school friend of the man convicted in the Orkney waiter murder case claims she can provide him with a watertight alibi.
Her claim comes just two weeks after a £100,000 reward was offered to help clear 30-year-old Michael Ross, serving a life sentence for shooting to death Bangladeshi Shamsuddin Mahmood in 1994.
Amelia Swanney, an environmental consultant in Aberdeen, insists she has no interest in the reward, and that she tried to contact the defence team during the trial in May.
She even underwent hypnosis to make sure her recall of the night of the murder, when she was 12, was accurate.
Ross, a serving soldier, was sentenced to serve at least 25 years by Lord Hardie, who said he was guilty of the "vicious, evil, unprovoked murder of a defenceless man".
Ross was just 14 when the murder took place. His trial was told that, with a balaclava over his head, he burst into a Kirkwall restaurant and shot the 26-year-old waiter dead.
However, a businessman contacted the Orcadian newspaper earlier this month because he was "horrified" at the chain of events that led to the life sentence given to Ross, a decorated war hero. He placed an advertisement publicising a £100,000 reward for information.
Ms Swanney, 27, is adamant that she and a group of friends were with Ross in Kirkwall's Tankerness House Gardens on the evening of June 2, 1994, when Mr Mahmood was shot.
She says that she and a friend were walking into Kirkwall. "We got to about Wellington Street when we saw Michael speed past on his bike.
"We walked further into town and met Michael again," she claims.
He had joined them and they had gone to Tankerness House Gardens, where they talked for a while.
"We were probably there for about an hour when somebody came running into the gardens," she said.
The man was "frantic" and informed them a waiter had been shot in the Indian restaurant.
She believes this clears Michael Ross. She had seen no reason to speak up before as he was not initially connected to the murder.
She left Orkney aged 17, but returned two years later. She said she realised she had to do something when Ross went on trial.
"I called Michael's defence lawyers and told them the story. I wondered why I'd never been questioned before ... They said they'd call me back and they never did.
"I've been frightened prosecutors would jump all over me as I realise what I'm saying gives Michael an alibi for the night in question."
As for the reward money, she said that the thought of cashing in made her feel "physically sick".
Ms Swanney is confident in her recollection of the events, but took steps to make sure by undergoing hypnosis. The hypnotist recorded her answers, which confirmed her recall, she said.
"He still holds the recording and I can have a copy when I want it," she added.
Michael's father Edmund Ross has always maintained his son's innocence.
He told The Herald yesterday: "I am not surprised that there is this new evidence, but I have no further comment to make."
Michael Ross was represented at his trial by Donald Findlay QC, but his instructing solicitors were from the Public Defence Solicitors' Office in Inverness, which is led by solicitor Eilidh MacDonald.
She said yesterday: "I can't make any comment on who may or may not have contacted us , as the case is subject to appeal."
