Seòmar agus comataidhean

I think that Roz McCall has another supplementary question first.

I will cut you off, as usual, Mr Findlay, but I will come back to you if there is time. I will bring in Paul Sweeney and then Collette Stevenson.

We have gone just a little over our time. I thank our witnesses for an informative session.

That completes the public part of our meeting, and we will now move into private session.

I will bring in Russell Findlay.

We know that the trial that you were the subject of concluded that, in essence, there was no case to answer. I am interested in whether there was any acknowledgement of that by Police Scotland—whether there was any apology or redress—and what that would mean to people who are in the situation in which you found yourself. Should Police Scotland at the very least acknowledge that what happened was, in essence, an injustice?

Thank you. It seems to be bizarre that you had to seek recourse to media coverage of your case.

We have just about come to the end of our time, Ian. As members have no more questions, would you like to add anything that we have not discussed this morning? Is there anything that the committee should know with regard to the bill’s provisions?

Good morning, and welcome to the 15th meeting in 2024 of the Criminal Justice Committee. We have received no apologies. Today, we continue taking evidence on the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill at stage 1.

Before we get under way, I invite members to declare any interests.

Thank you, Margaret. There is a lot in there, but it was very interesting to hear that overview. A lot of things were going through my head when you were setting that out, and one of them was about the culture. I know that that broader issue about the culture in Police Scotland is not what we are here to discuss today but, from what we heard at last week’s evidence session and from what you have outlined so far this morning, that issue is evident and present. Could you comment on that?

That has brought us swiftly to time. I will ask a final question. You have covered quite a lot, with particular reference to the PIRC and what is not in the bill. Is there anything else, particularly about the police complaints system, that has not been covered and that you would like to touch on before we end our session?

Another point that might be of interest to members is about the process. It is normally the case that, if a misconduct process is to be undertaken, it will commence after the outcome of a court trial.