IN an unprecedented appearance before the Scottish Parliament, Scotland’s chief law officer, Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC yesterday apologised for the malicious prosecution of two of the administrators of Rangers FC.

As The National and Sunday National revealed, the Crown Office has paid £24m in damages and legal costs to David Whitehouse and Paul Clark. The former last night called for a “criminal investigation” of the Crown Office.

The Lord Advocate admitted to Parliament the amount of damages and legal costs and conceded the bill could rise. He pointed out that the relevant decisions to prosecute had been taken under the previous Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland QC, now judge Lord Mulholland.

He also stated: “There were, in this case, profound departures from the normal practices, including precognition, that are designed to ensure, and routinely do ensure, that any prosecution in the High Court has a proper basis,” adding that the indictment of the duo was “indefensible in law”.

He continued: “On December 24, 2020, I issued written apologies to each of Mr Clark and Mr Whitehouse. They should not have been prosecuted, and, as the current Lord Advocate and head of the system of criminal prosecution, I apologised unreservedly for the fact that they had been. I reiterate that unreserved apology publicly to Mr Clark and Mr Whitehouse today.

“In this case, there was a serious failure in the system of prosecution. It did not live up to the standards that I expect, that the public and this Parliament are entitled to expect and that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service expects of itself.

“I tender my apology to this Parliament and to the public for the fact that it did happen and for the consequent cost to the public purse. I confirm my commitment and that of the Crown to supporting a process of inquiry into what happened in this case once related matters have concluded.”

Last night David Whitehouse responded: “The Lord Advocate today in Parliament summarised one of the most shameful episodes in Scottish legal history – an admission that innocent people were prosecuted maliciously and the taxpayer is ending up footing the multi-million-pound bill.

“Never before has the Government’s top law officer had to admit to ‘indefensible’ actions and ‘serious failure’. I welcome his apology to me and my colleague Paul Clark but as many MSPs pointed out today in their chorus of condemnation, that when something goes seriously wrong who is at fault?

“The Lord Advocate said no-one acted out of spite but the fact remains that it was people within Crown Office that took a series of decisions that resulted in us being hauled out of our homes, falsely accused of crimes, incarcerated and prosecuted with malice. Those people should be held accountable. I firmly believe that a criminal investigation is justified.”

Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser called for an inquiry to be led by a non-Scottish judge: “This was not simple human error or an obscure legal mistake. Our prosecution service has admitted that, acting with malice, they sought to throw innocent men behind bars and destroy their reputations.”

Scottish Greens justice spokesperson John Finnie MSP added: “Members of the public may understandably wonder what chance they would have of receiving justice, when such an appalling failure takes place in what was a hugely high profile matter.”