By Professor John Robertson OBA
Alistair Wilson was a banker aged 30 living in Nairn, Scotland who was shot to death on his doorstep on 28 November 2004. The ensuing murder inquiry was one of the largest ever carried out in Scotland and the crime remains unsolved. The apparent lack of motive and other unexplained elements of the murder have led to it being described as ‘Scotland’s most mysterious unsolved crime’ and ‘one of the most baffling cases of modern times’, and it has attracted ongoing press coverage.1
Police Scotland was established on 1 April 2013 and is responsible for policing across the whole of Scotland, some 28,168 square miles, covering a third of the United Kingdom’s landmass with a unique range of urban, rural, island and remote communities.2
The Guardian, above, as does BBC Scotland, reports the family’s understandable frustration that this case has not been solved by Police Scotland, employ that to undermine its reputation and, of course, by association, the SNP government which launched it to deal with the many problems the smaller regional forces faced in solving crimes like this one.
Neither report tells you this:
Police Scotland’s 100 per cent homicide detection rate means that every one of the 605 murders committed since the inception of the single national service in 2013, has been solved.3
Competent or whit?
Footnote: If you really want to discuss Police Scotland failure – Operation Branchform probe into SNP finances ‘is a farce’, MSP claims https://www.thenational.scot/news/24520679.operation-branchform-probe-snp-finances-is-farce-msp-claims/
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Alistair_Wilson
- https://www.scotland.police.uk/about-us/who-we-are/about-police-scotland/#:~:text=Police%20Scotland%20was%20established%20on,rural%2C%20island%20and%20remote%20communities.
- https://www.scotland.police.uk/what-s-happening/news/2023/october/homicides-in-scotland-2022-23/#:~:text=Police%20Scotland’s%20100%20per%20cent,in%202013%2C%20has%20been%20solved.
The OBA – https://scotsindependent.scot/?page_id=116
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Police Scotland going to reopen the murder of Alistair Wilson good for them maybe they will reopen the mysterious death of’
UNSOLVED DEATH OF MR WILLIE MCRAE
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Aye, it would have been a Highland Police investigation at the time, and become a cold case before PS was created, and not a mention in the HMS James Cook version – Yet what jarred was the deliberate framing…
“His widow Veronica and son Andrew, who is now 24, told the Press and Journal newspaper that their relationship with police had “steadily deteriorated” in the past 18 months due to unresolved issues not being properly addressed.
Police Scotland said they remained committed to finding the killer and getting justice for the Wilson family.
Earlier this week, Scotland’s top law officer, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, instructed a “complete reinvestigation” of the case, which the Wilson family said was “upsetting and a huge disappointment as the announcement felt far from the ‘good news story’ that Police Scotland wanted it to be”. “
Now read those paragraphs in reverse order and it suddenly makes sense – The LA announced the instruction, the BBC asked for comment from PS, then the widow… 🙄
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To Solve a crime – basically the police use “Magicop” – Motive, Ability, Guilty Intent, Identification, Conduct After Crime, Opportunity and Preparation.
They in this case wold also have been using the Police National Computer “Holmes” Systems to help them link the available “evidence” that would be available, from the locus etc., including a detailed examination of the victim`s background and work. Comments like “Incompetence” in relation to criminal investigations often come from not knowing or understanding the complexity of the task at hand.
As Far as I can see or have been made aware of the circumstances there has been NO Identification of any prospective “accused” so far, that`s a big hole in the investigation – which can`t just be conjured up. I feel sorry for the victims family but the Police Officers Investigating “cold cases” will be just as frustrated.
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Accusing the police of incompetence implies that there investigation was flawed, missed, overlooked or lost evidence. The devil’s ( as they say ) in the detail, so what detail do they think has been missed. Forget, and I’m guessing here, that this investigation has probably had more than 1 back to basics and evidence review.The
One other point I would make and we forget this at our peril, Police have a duty to the victim not the victims family. A man’s life for was ended unlawfully and it’s that man that the law is there to serve.
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Golfnut
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