THE Lord Advocate was last night facing demands to publish a report into the collapse of the World's End trial which concluded no-one was to blame for the fiasco.
An internal review into the handling of the case has been completed and distributed to the families of murdered teenagers Helen Scott and Christine Eadie.
The 20-page report – which the Crown Office has said it does not intend to release – makes
a number of recommendations for improving the handling of "historic" cases similar to the World's End murders.
But a source has told The Scotsman that the report does not attach blame to anyone for the collapse of the high-profile case.
Last night politicians demanded that the report be published to ensure public confidence in the prosecution system is not damaged by claims of a cover-up.
Mike Pringle, MSP for Edinburgh South and the Liberal Democrat's deputy justice spokesman, said: "This case ended in disaster. If a report has been published, then it should all be above board and put in the public domain.
"The public need to know what they are going to do to put it right. It's vitally important we all have total confidence in the prosecution system."
The inquiry was announced last September by Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, and was carried out by Crown officials. It is understood the Scotts and the Eadies have been asked not to talk publicly about the report's contents.
The Solicitor-General, Frank Mullholland, is expected to meet with the families of the dead girls later this month to discuss the report.
As area procurator-fiscal for Lothian and Borders, Mr Mullholland supervised the case against Angus Sinclair, who was accused of killing the friends in 1977.
The serial rapist was sensationally cleared after the judge, Lord Clarke, decided the Crown had failed to present enough evidence, earlier this year.
That day, Alan Mackay, the advocate depute in charge of conducting the case in court, failed to turn up and he was officially declared a missing person. He had later contacted his wife to say he needed some time alone.
The collapse of the trial, which lasted for only ten days rather than the expected six weeks, sparked a fierce row over why key DNA evidence was never presented in court.
A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: "We confirm that the internal review of the case has now been completed and arrangements are in the process of being agreed for the Solicitor-General to meet the families of the victims in order that the content might be discussed with them.
"It is not our intention to publish the report."
The spokeswoman said it had been decided it was appropriate to discuss the report with the families before discussing it in public.
After the trial, it emerged that vital strands of evidence that could have convicted Sinclair were never heard by the jury. Forensic scientists had found Sinclair's DNA on the stockings used to strangle both girls, but this was not revealed in court.
The full article contains 519 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
