A MAN jailed for murdering a former bank clerk after unreliable fingerprint evidence was used against him had his conviction quashed yesterday.

In what was seen as a major blow to the Scottish legal system, David Asbury was freed at the Court of Criminal Appeal after spending three-and-a-half years in custody for the killing of a former bank clerk, Marion Ross.

The Crown conceded that without the flawed forensic evidence the case against him could not stand and Lord Justice Clerk Gill made his unease clear when he said: ''It is a matter of considerable concern to the court that the administration of justice has got into this position.''

The Asbury case is closely linked to that of former police officer Shirley McKie, 38, who was charged with committing perjury by lying on oath at Mr Asbury's trial at the High Court in Glasgow but was cleared by the jury after the same experts from the Scottish Criminal Records Office fingerprint bureau wrongly identified her thumbprint at the murder scene.

A Nationalist MSP called on the justice minister to draw a line under the whole affair.

Mike Russell, who has long campaigned on behalf of Miss McKie, said: ''The message from today's court judgment to Jim Wallace is crystal clear - he must stop defending the indefensible and come to a speedy settlement with Shirley with regard to compensation for all she has suffered.''

A statement issued yesterday by the Crown Office stressed that the McKie case had brought about a major overhaul of the fingerprint bureau, but earlier fingerprint errors could still be in the pipeline.

Miss McKie said yesterday that she hoped this would mark the end of the battle, and that it vindicated her stand.

She said: ''I was under immense pressure. I had over 100 years of fingerprint evidence against me. Everyone thought that fingerprints were infallible but the truth is that people can make mistakes.''

Mr Asbury, a joiner, was convicted after a 13-day trial in June 1997 of murdering Miss Ross at her Kilmarnock home in January that year and stealing a biscuit tin containing (pounds) 1400. Miss Ross was subjected to a horrific attack in which her ribs were crushed and she was stabbed in the eye with a pair of scissors which were left embedded in her throat.

A biscuit tin was found in Mr Asbury's bedroom at Kilbirnie in Ayrshire and SCRO experts alleged that a poor quality print on it was that of Miss Ross.

That claim was publicly demolished at the appeal court yesterday when Herbert Kerrigan QC, counsel for Mr Asbury, told the court that the Crown was not opposing his client's appeal against conviction and would not be seeking a retrial.

Experts from the US, Denmark, and England had concluded that the print on the tin was not that of Miss Ross.

Mr Asbury said he was angry and bitter about the way he had been treated by the system, and added: ''I was convicted of a crime I didn't commit because of the false evidence of the SCRO. They made a big mistake.

''I hold the SCRO responsible for what happened and I think a civil action against them is possible. I want them to admit they have made a mistake. It has been hanging over my head for the past five years and the three-and-a-half years I spent in jail wasn't pleasant.''

George More, Mr Asbury's solicitor, said he had no criticism of the Crown for what had happened, and added: ''If criticism is due it is against the so-called experts. There may now be other cases where doubt is cast. Who knows?''

Shirley McKie was accused of lying on oath at Mr Asbury's trial but a jury cleared her unanimously of perjury in May 1999. Despite the evidence of the SCRO experts about her thumbprint being found at the murder scene she insisted that she had never been there. She has launched a civil action against Scottish ministers, who are responsible for the SCRO.

The Scottish Executive was unwilling to comment on yesterday's appeal on the basis that the civil case was still ''live''.