Claire Inglis: John Swinney urged to deal with bail 'blind spot' after young mum's murder
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay raised the case of Claire Inglis, who was murdered in 2021
John Swinney has been urged to overhaul the bail system and address an alleged blind spot that is “putting women and children in danger”.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay pressed the First Minister on the case of Claire Inglis, who was killed by her boyfriend Christopher McGowan in 2021 at a flat she shared with her young son.
Mr Findlay said a new report by an independent expert, commissioned by the Crown Office, found Claire and her son were “invisible in the system” and her death involved a “major safeguarding lapse”.
He said her parents, Fiona and Ian, who were in the public gallery at Holyrood on Thursday, were “still being kept in the dark” because they had received only a summary of the findings, not the full report.
Mr Findlay said: “Claire Inglis was a loving and happy young mum who was tortured and murdered by a man she had just begun a relationship with. The serial criminal who killed her had 40 criminal convictions and was a known danger to women and children, yet he was repeatedly bailed to the home Claire shared with her young son.
“Claire’s parents Fiona and Ian have spent four years fighting and indeed pleading for information. The way in which the Inglis family are being treated is disrespectful and cruel.
“The new expert report commissioned by the Crown Office is damning. Fiona and Ian have not been told the answer to critical questions because the Crown have only given them a brief summary.
“John Swinney should back the full release of this report and support the establishment of an FAI [fatal accident inquiry], so the Inglis family can finally get the answers they deserve.
“This tragedy has revealed a major flaw at the heart of Scotland’s bail system. There is no obligation to check the addresses where violent offenders are to be released on bail.
“The SNP Government must change the law and remove this systemic flaw, which cost Claire her life and put the Inglis family through this horrific ordeal.”
McGowan, then 28, was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 23 years behind bars in October 2023 for a murder the judge described as “beyond sadistic”.
Mr Swinney, who met Mr and Mrs Inglis in November last year, said there “may be issues about data handling which cause constraints on the release of the full report”.
But he added: “If the report can be released, I am very happy for that to be the case.”
He also said he would ask Scotland’s top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, if there can be further dialogue with Mr and Mrs Inglis on the contents of the report “to make sure they can have a fuller understanding, to help them try to come to terms with the tragic loss they have suffered”.
He stressed it was only the Lord Advocate who can decide if a fatal accident inquiry should be held.
But Mr Swinney said he would “raise these issues directly with the Lord Advocate and ask her for her consideration of these matters to ensure Mr and Mrs Inglis can have as much support as possible to come to terms with the loss that they have suffered”.
On the issue of bail, he said the Scottish Government had already made changes, pointing to legislation passed at Holyrood.
Mr Swinney said this made clear “the court should specifically consider the protection of the victim from a risk of both physical and psychological harm before making the decision on bail”.