First Minister 'prepared' to meet family of murdered banker Alistair Wilson

The First Minister said he had ‘every sympathy’ for the trauma experienced by the family of the murdered banker from Nairn.

First Minister ‘prepared’ to meet family of murdered banker Alistair WilsonFamily handout

Scotland’s First Minister has said he is prepared to meet with the family of murdered banker Alistair Wilson.

John Swinney said while “there will be a limit to what I can do”, he would be happy to hear their concerns.

Mr Wilson, who was 30, was murdered on November 28, 2004, at his home in Nairn in the Highlands.

The killer has not been found since the attack two decades ago, but in September, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC said Police Scotland would reinvestigate the case.

His family have criticised the probe and called Chief Constable Jo Farrell “callous” for refusing to meet with them.

During First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross asked Swinney if he would visit Mr Wilson’s relatives.

Ross said: “Last week marked two decades since Alistair Wilson was fatally shot on the doorstep of his family home in Nairn while his wife Veronica and two young sons, Andrew and Drew, were upstairs.

Alistair Wilson with with his sons when they were younger 1Family handout

“Two decades on, his killer continues to evade justice, and throughout this whole time,e Veronica and her family have shown great strength and dignity, but it has been very clear that they are now critical of Police Scotland, elements of the investigation and the chief constable of Police Scotland, who repeatedly refuses to meet with them, something I have urged Chief Constable Farrell to reconsider.

“But can I ask the First Minister, while acknowledging he cannot comment on a live police investigation, if he will meet with Veronica and her family to listen to what they have endured for the last 20 years and what they continue to go through as they fight to see the killer of their husband and father finally brought to justice?”

Swinney said while he would be prepared to meet the family, there is a limit to what he could do during a live police investigation.

The First Minister said: “I have every sympathy with Mrs Wilson and her family at the unbearable loss that they have suffered and the trauma that they have experienced by the fact that the perpetrators of that attack have not been brought to justice, and I have every sympathy with them in that respect.

“Mr Ross realises, and the framing of his question recognises this point, that this is a live police investigation and these are operational matters for the Chief Constable to take forward.

“But with the caveats that Mr Ross has put into his question that I cannot engage on a live police investigation, I would be prepared to meet with Mrs Wilson and her family to hear of their anguish.

“There will be a limit to what I can do but if it provides any assistance and support to the family that the First Minister is prepared to listen to their concerns then I am prepared to do that.”

Ms Farrell has said she is committed to finding the murderer, although Mr Wilson’s family have criticised the police, saying they are being “kept in the dark” by officers.

Mr Wilson was shot at about 7pm on a Sunday after a man called at the family’s home on Crescent Road, spoke to Mrs Wilson when she answered the door, and asked for her husband by name.

The 30-year-old went downstairs to speak to the man and was handed a blue envelope with the word “Paul” on it.

Mr Wilson went inside briefly and then returned to the door, where he was shot. He died later that evening in hospital.

The gun, a Haenel Suhl pocket pistol from the 1930s, was recovered from a drain near his home 10 days later.

After the reinvestigation was launched, the family said they had lost confidence in the police.

Andrew Wilson, who was four when his father was murdered, has called for the chief constable to resign over her handling of the investigation.

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