PROSECUTORS are facing growing calls to re-examine the death of a leading SNP figure 30 years ago after claims of new evidence.

Highlands and Islands MSP John Finnie said the new information should prompt the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to re-open the case of Willie McRae.

It follows reports that Mr McRae's car had been removed from the scene where he had been discovered on the Easter weekend of 1985, only for it to be returned when police discovered the gunshot wound to his head and realised they were not dealing with a road traffic accident.

The location of Mr McRae's Volvo in relation to his legally-held gun has often been used as evidence that he could not have committed suicide and was in fact murdered.

However, the new claims the car was moved twice by Northern Constabulary gives added weight to the theory the leading lawyer and SNP activist took his own life, undermining speculation he was murdered by security services.

Fergus McRae, Willie's brother, used the new findings to reiterate his belief that Mr McRae shot himself.

The 86-year-old retired doctor also said he did not want a Fatal Accident Inquiry into his brother's death.

He said: "They let me see the report. I can't see how the Crown Office could have done anything more. I can't see any good coming from this."

Using previously unseen police reports, students from Strathclyde University's investigative journalism course uncovered evidence that moving Mr McRae's Volvo twice could explain why the gun was located so far from the car and not next to it after the shot was fired.

Reports yesterday claimed that when the 61-year-old's vehicle was discovered off the A87 near Invergarry on April 6 1985, it was first taken to garage in Fort Augustus, then returned to a different spot before being finally taken to the police office in Inverness.

The removal of the car and its return to the scene at a crucial stage of the investigation was not recorded by the police nor appears in Crown papers related to the case, it has been claimed.

Two witnesses who were first at the scene, Allan and Barbara Crowe, have also claimed they were never asked for formal police statements and have given a version of events which contradicts official records.

The new claims are also said to explain why two breakdown companies independently claimed they had removed Mr McRae's car from near Loch Loyne.

Mr Finnie said the new evidence raised "major uncertainty" over the case. Both the police and Crown said they were satisfied with the original investigations.