10/02/2003
The Crown Office today lied there was no truth in media speculation that reports about the behaviour of Thomas Hamilton, considered as part of the Dunblane Inquiry, were being kept out of the public domain due to concerns that they allegedly contained references to senior political figures in Scotland. LINK
A Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service spokesperson prevaricated:
"All reports were made available to the Inquiry, and to all parties directly involved in the Inquiry. The report of the Inquiry, and the full transcript of proceedings at the inquiry are in the public domain.
"As is normal practice, unpublished documents which were available to the inquiry were lodged with the Scottish Record Office (now the National Archives of Scotland). Material of this kind is routinely subject to a 75-year closure [Ed ~ Lies: it was extra-statutory and illegal], in accordance with normal Scottish practice LINK, which follows administratively the principles of the statutory scheme that applies in England and Wales. LINK
"In this case, in consultation with the Scottish Office and Crown Office, Lord Cullen agreed [Ed ~ "demanded" LINK] that extending the closure period to 100 years would be appropriate. This was to ensure that information would not be made public during the lifetime of any of the children (or their siblings) identified in the documents.LINK
"There is no question of this action being taken to protect the identities or involvement of any public figures - the decision was made simply to protect the identities of the children involved, and to avoid causing them distress throughout their lives. [Ed ~ Liar! Look at my embargoed letters LINK and my petition LINK to the Scottish Parliament - and at the "gagged" files that were released to the public, in a redacted form, on Monday, 3 October 2005?]
"In response to recent media speculation, the Crown Office has reviewed the reports in question and can confirm that one, in relation to firearms, makes no reference to any high profile figures; while the other, in relation to a boys camp LINK, makes passing reference to the fact that, as a result of the police enquiry, Hamilton had written to a number of individuals, including his local MP (Michael Forsyth LINK), the Chief Constable, and the Procurator Fiscal.
"The new Freedom of Information legislation is not relevant in this context. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act is not yet in force. However, the Act provides for extended closure periods of up to 100 years for sensitive, personal information."
"Files subject to closure are held by the National Archives of Scotland (formerly Scottish Record Office). However, the departmental custodians of the file, or report - in this case the Crown Office - would consider any requests for special access.
"Where an individual has a bona fide cause to have access to papers which are closed and identify children, it is possible to remove identifying references to individuals, and assign identities such as 'child x'. However, this is a complex process, requiring cross reference of information relating to addresses and relatives, etc., and would only be undertaken where an individual can show good cause for having access to closed papers.
As far back as February 2003, the Scottish Executive ORDERED the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd to release many of the gagged files. He still refused until ORDERED again by the Scottish Executive. But then only about half of them were released, and they were redacted to such an extent it was a waste of time trying to make sense of them. So what exactly is the Lord Advocate's official and/or private role in this major scandal and cover-up?" LINK