Lawyers trying to overturn a former soldier's conviction for a racist murder on Orkney have attacked the trial judge's decision to rule out evidence from a psychologist.

Counsel acting for decorated army veteran Michael Ross say the judge's decision not to allow evidence from a psychologist amounts to a miscarriage of justice.

Ross, 33, was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for the shooting of restaurant worker Shamsuddin Mahmood at the Mumtaz restaurant in Kirkwall in 1994, when he was just 15.

Lawyers for the former Black Watch sergeant say his conviction should be quashed because he did not receive a fair trial.

They have challenged the use at trial of a series of police interviews which he gave as a 16-year-old schoolboy without legal representation.

They also maintain that the trial judge, Lord Hardie, made a mistake in refusing to allow the defence to lead evidence from psychologist Erica Robb.

It is said that her evidence would have been to the effect that a 15-year-old committing such a murder would have displayed signs of defective personality traits, but from her assessment she had seen no such signs.

On Wednesday defence counsel Margaret Scott QC told the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh: "What we are concerned with here is the necessity for the defence to have proper opportunity to lead evidence in support of their case in meeting an attack made by the Crown."

She said the move to lead evidence from the psychologists was in the context of defence lawyers saying there had been an attack on the character of Ross and a suggestion he had "a personality defect of some kind".

Miss Scott said the consequence of the judge's ruling was to limit the defence to relying on character witnesses - later colleagues from the Army - and to leave them without the proper chance to address the attack.

The hearing before the Lord Justice General, Lord Hamilton, sitting with Lord Carloway and Lord Bonomy continues.

IN DETAIL

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