Police officer in Alistair Wilson Nairn murder investigation found guilty of misconduct
A police officer involved in the investigation into the murder of Nairn banker Alistair Wilson has been found guilty of misconduct after lying to the family of the victim, it has been reported.
An article published by The Times on Monday, itself citing a piece in the Mail on Sunday, reported that the family of Mr Wilson, who was shot dead on his doorstep in Nairn in 2004, had been told that a suspect in the case would be arrested on May 15 last year as part of the ongoing investigation.
Alistair Wilson: A timeline of events of the unsolved ‘doorstep murder’
However it was further reported that Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Livingstone later “denied being aware that a date had been identified for the arrest” after the arrest did not in fact take place, prompting an official complaint from the grieving family.
Now, Police Scotland’s professional standards department has assessed his actions as amounting to misconduct though no further details - including what, if any, sanction has been applied - have been released.
Directing that misconduct outcomes are confidential, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: "A conduct investigation was carried out and the matter has now concluded."
Relations between Mr Wilson’s family - widow Veronica (53) and two sons - and police appear to have deteriorated over the years.
Earlier this year, having rarely spoken about the case publicly, they said they had lost confidence in Police Scotland.
That came after an announcement by The Lord Advocate that a complete reinvestigation of the case was to be carried out, with a new team of prosecutors from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and a new team of officers from Police Scotland set to work on that.
In a statement responding to that, Mr Wilson’s family said: “The announcement that Alistair's murder would be subject to a ‘complete reinvestigation’ was upsetting and a huge disappointment as the announcement felt far from the ‘good news story’ that Police Scotland wanted it to be.
“Our loyalty to and cooperation with Police Scotland has long been taken for granted during a sometimes turbulent relationship that the actions of senior leadership has damaged beyond repair.”
