A Fife father’s bid for a change in the law following his son’s death has been thrown out by MSPs.
‘Barry’s Law’ would have allowed judges to request a review of jury decisions where they considered the verdict to be “irrational, unsupported or unbelievable”.
Alan McLean, who believes there was a miscarriage of justice in Barry’s case, earlier this year urged the Scottish Parliament to introduce the power to refer apparently perverse acquittals to the appeal court.
However, his petition was closed on Tuesday.
Barry died in 2011 in Burntisland at the age of 27.
Sean Kitchener admitted “poking” him with a knife but denied murder, and his plea of self-defence was accepted by a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Mr McLean, from Burntisland, told The Courier: “I am really, really disappointed with the committee’s response.
“I’m quite sure if it was a politician or a member of the judiciary who lost a son or daughter through knife crime, things would change quite quickly.”
Mr McLean, who worked for several months with numerous supporters on the campaign for Barry’s Law, vowed to keep fighting knife crime and said that he would seek legal advice on his next step.
He said: “We are doing all this for Barry and to put something in place to protect other families.”
He also said he hoped change would come about following the publication of Lord Bonomy’s report on safeguards if the requirement for corroboration in criminal cases was abolished.
Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill told the Public Petitions Committee: “There is a great deal of sympathy for Mr McLean but, as we heard from the Sheriffs’ Association, to change the position we are at would be a fundamental change in the law of Scotland.”
He said the circumstances in which Barry’s Law could have been employed were extremely rare, and added: “We would be asking one person, the sheriff or judge, to replace the verdict of 15.
“This is something we have to leave until such time as the Government, Parliament or a Member’s Bill wishes to change it or the Bonomy Report moves things forward.”
There were more than 1,300 signatures on Mr McLean’s petition.