THE men acquitted over the murder of a man dubbed "Scotland's Stephen Lawrence" should be retried, his family's lawyer has said.

Aamer Anwar is writing to Solicitor General Frank Mulholand asking the Crown Office to reopen the inquiry into the killing of Surjit Singh Chhokar following the reform of double jeopardy rules that stopped the same person being tried twice.

Father-of-two Mr Chhokar, 32, a waiter, was stabbed to death in Overtown, Lanarkshire, in 1998.

But, despite two High Court trials, the three accused blamed each other, and no-one was convicted.

Former Lord Advocate Colin Boyd, QC even apologised for "incompetence, ignorance and institutional racism" after a judicial inquiry into the case.

Mr Anwar, said: "I'm in the process of compiling a letter. There has been a great deal of talk in relation to other cases, but the one case that doesn't seem to be mentioned is the Choker case. One wonders why this wouldn't be one of those cases that should be looked at."

Ronnie Coulter, 43, his cousin Andrew Coulter, 30 and David Montgomery, 34, were charged with the murder.

But when Ronnie Coulter was put on trial he accused the two other men, while Andrew Coulter and Montgomery blamed Ronnie when they were later tried.

Ronnie Coulter allegedly later told his sister; "I just got away with the perfect murder."