A DECISION on whether a fatal accident inquiry into the murder of Tayport teenager Karen Dewar will be carried out will be delayed until the outcome of an independent investigation is known.

It has been revealed that the people at the top of the legal profession in Scotland will make a final decision on whether to instruct an FAI after the reports of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Social Work Inspection Agency have been completed.

The news was revealed yesterday by North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell, who met Lord Advocate Colin Boyd last month to discuss the case.

Karen’s horrific murder shocked the country and led to life imprisonment for 18-year-old Colyn Evans.

Evans was placed by Fife Council in a homeless flat in Tayport. Questions have been raised about this and the levels of supervision.

After Karen’s death a report by police and social workers revealed Evans had been accused of 14 offences between the ages of 10 and 16. Authorities were powerless to enforce supervision because Evans was never a registered sex offender. He had been dealt with by the children’s hearing system.

After Evans was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh, Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said she had asked the Social Work Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to scrutinise a report produced jointly by Fife Council and Fife police.

Yesterday Sir Menzies urged the Lord Advocate not to forget the “public confidence” at stake.

In a letter to the Lord Advocate Sir Menzies said, “I am grateful for the meeting in your chambers and I understand that you will not reach a final decision whether to instruct a fatal accident inquiry until the reports of the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Social Work Inspection Agency have been completed, and I understand the reasons for that.

“But may I ... reiterate the point I sought to make to you as strongly as I could.

“There is an overwhelming issue of public confidence at stake in this matter to which an FAI would make a unique contribution. I hope you will not lose sight of that issue.”

A fatal accident inquiry would allow a sheriff to take an independent look at the death and if necessary come to a conclusion about what could have prevented it.