Police Scotland have finally said sorry to officers they illegally spied on in a bid to find Sunday Mail sources.
But they have been accused by one former detective of only offering a “reluctant” apology ahead of potential misconduct hearings.
The force’s controversial Counter Corruption Unit (CCU) targeted two former and two serving officers after we revealed a forgotten suspect in the Emma Caldwell murder inquiry.
Instead of immediately reopening the inquiry, Police Scotland tried to find our journalists’ sources by accessing phone and email records during a rogue probe in 2015.
Former detective Gerry Gallacher, whose reinvestigation of the inquiry uncovered suspect Iain Packer, had 100 days of data communications examined without proper authority.
He said: “It’s bad enough Police Scotland have taken two years before making this apology. But the people they should be apologising to is Emma Caldwell’s family.
“Ensuring they do everything possible to obtain justice for her would be worth far more to me than a reluctant apology.”
A probe into the CCU’s actions, ordered by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), is being carried out by Durham Constabulary.
It is understood Durham are set to recommend up to a dozen police officers face misconduct
proceedings.
Last month, Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton met Police Scotland Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick to discuss the inquiry’s progress.
(Photo: PA)
Fitzpatrick wrote a letter to Gallacher to “apologise unreservedly”. She said: “We fully acknowledge that there was no intelligence case supporting the suggestion that any of the serving or retired police officers involved in this matter had been involved in a disclosure of
material to you. I do not doubt that, as a former police officer in Scotland of many years’ standing, you would have found it distressing to discover that you had been the focus of such inquiries by your one-time police colleagues.”
Emma, 27, was found dead in Lanarkshire woods in April 2005. But after a two-year inquiry, which cost £4million, the case against four Turkish suspects accused of the crime collapsed.
Two years ago, on the 10th anniversary of Emma’s death, the Sunday Mail revealed the identity
of Packer.
He was interviewed six times by detectives but was never arrested or charged, despite
admitting he knew Emma and directing officers to the track where her body was found.
Police Scotland launched a molehunt after our story but the Crown Office ordered them to reopen the inquiry weeks later.
Gallacher said: “When the Sunday Mail in April 2015 revealed the results of my 18-month investigation into the Emma Caldwell murder inquiry, Police Scotland did not address the issues raised.
“Instead, they continued to bury their heads in the sand until ordered to reopen the inquiry by the Crown.
“However, they wasted not a minute when it came to illegally obtaining my phone and email data in an attempt to identify my sources.
“Now, having had over 700 days to address the matter of that illegality, DCC Fitzpatrick indicated that she did not wish to wait before writing a letter of apology.
“I’m sure it is only a coincidence that the letter follows a recent face-to-face meeting between
Durham Chief Constable Mike Barton and DCC Fitzpatrick.
“Given it required the intervention of the Crown Office before Emma’s murder was reopened and possibly advice from Durham’s chief constable before a letter of apology was forthcoming, then perhaps, like a wheelbarrow, Police Scotland require a push to progress.”
Last month, Emma’s mum Margaret told the Sunday Mail of her dismay at the failure of the initial police investigation.