JUSTICE Secretary Michael Matheson has told MSPs he only found out about a highly critical report alleging corruption in the early days of Police Scotland when TV bosses made details of its contents public.

The report, which contains claims of bad practice and unlawful behaviour, dates back to 2014, but details of it only emerged on Monday ahead of a BBC Scotland documentary.

Answering questions at Holyrood, Matheson said he only found out about it then, because the original document was an internal report.

He said it was a “mistake” that it wasn’t shared with watchdogs at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

The investigation claimed drafts of the report show the chief constable’s office wanted negative comments deleted, tenses changed to suggest problems had been fixed, and an entire section, where frontline officers described working in a culture of fear, removed.

It said early drafts of the report had detailed officers conducting unauthorised surveillance, threatening and intimidating witnesses, unlawfully detaining suspects, and colluding while compiling statements.

Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr raised the matter yesterday, telling Matheson: “This is a scandal and I do not use that world lightly.”

Matheson stressed the report had “not been shared with the Scottish Government”. He confirmed the allegations would be considered by the SPA.