Operation Sandwood was carried out by Police Scotland and looked at nine allegations made by the Justice for Megrahi campaign group. A dedicated team of detectives examined the allegations and their findings have been validated by a senior, and independent, Queen’s Counsel.
Revealing the results yesterday, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: “Officers carried out a methodical and rigorous inquiry using our major investigation framework under the direction of an experienced senior investigating officer. I have had oversight of the investigation since its outset.
“The substance of the allegations were diverse in nature and the sheer scale and complexity of the task has resulted in a particularly protracted enquiry which has taken longer than originally thought.”
He added: “The findings and conclusions have been validated by a senior Queen’s Counsel, entirely unconnected with and acting independently from the Crown Office. “I have written to the Lord Advocate to inform him Operation Sandwood is now complete and that there is no evidence of criminality and therefore no basis to submit a standard prosecution report.”
As the material collated during the inquiry and the findings have relevance to both the ongoing live investigation and the potential appeal against conviction lodged on behalf of the late Mr Megrahi, it has now been handed to Crown Office officials.
