AN MP yesterday demanded an inquiry into the way in which the Crown
conducted the trial of a man accused of the rape and murder of
schoolteacher Miss Mary McKinlay.
Dr Jeremy Bray confirmed that he had written to Lord Fraser, the Lord
Advocate, because of the ''public concern'' over the way the trial was
presented to the jury.
He has asked him to investigate claims that the Crown case ended
abruptly and that the special defence of alibi lodged by the accused was
not investigated properly.
Last week, charges of murder and rape against Mr William Ellis, 35, a
taxi driver, were found not proven at the High Court in Glasgow. The
jury took only 95 minutes to reach its majority verdict after less than
two days of evidence led by Mr William Dunlop, the acting
advocate-depute.
Mr Ellis, who was a neighbour of Miss McKinlay, 50, lodged an alibi
that he was with his girlfriend, Miss Susan McLean, at the time of the
murder last May. He refused to give evidence before a sheriff's
examination after he was arrested and he did not give evidence in court
or speak to his alibi.
Members of the public were angry that Miss McLean was not called to
give evidence about her part in the alibi. Her father and another
relative told the court she had confessed that she had lied.
She told police she had been with Mr Ellis in their flat in Glen Tower
when, in fact, she had been at the cinema with her daughter, Nicola,
nine.
Before reaching a verdict, the jury asked if they could study the
alibi lodged in court by Mr Ellis. Lord Cameron refused saying that it
did not form part of the evidence as Mr Ellis had not spoken to it in
court.
A handful of witnesses were called by the Crown from a list of 88. Mr
Dunlop addressed the jury for 15 minutes on the evidence which he had
led.
Mr Donald Findlay QC, who was appearing for Mr Ellis, spoke for an
hour.
Dr Bray said: ''Miss McKinlay was one of my constitutents and I have
written to the Lord Advocate because of the public concern in this
matter.'' His Motherwell constituency includes Glen Tower, where dozens
of residents have applied to the council for house moves since Mr Ellis
returned home with Miss McLean after the trial.
Miss McKinlay, the principal English teacher at Duncanrig Secondary
School, East Kilbride, was beaten, raped, stabbed nine times, and
drowned in her own blood after her windpipe had been severed.
A Crown Office spokesman said: ''The matter will be considered when we
receive the letter. We cannot comment at the moment.''
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