Lord Advocate faces fresh call to take action over M9 tragedy

Scotland’s top law officer has been urged to give a firm commitment to holding an inquiry into the circumstances of an M9 crash which killed two people.

Earlier this year, the previous Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland told Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie he found it “inconceivable” that a full a fatal accident inquiry would not be held given the public concern over the incident.

Police Scotland came under fire after the force failed to follow up a call received about the crash.

The couple were eventually discovered in the vehicle, close to the motorway at Bannockburn on 8 July 2015.

The case was subsequently referred to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC), which has submitted its findings to the Lord Advocate, who will decide what action to take.

However, Rennie has written to the new Lord Advocate, James Wolffe calling on him to move “forwards quickly” with a fatal accident inquiry (FAI).

Rennie said “I have written to the new Lord Advocate, asking him if he agrees that an FAI is needed.

“The fact that investigations are moving forwards is welcome. But if the families are to get the answers they need then we need a full FAI into these tragic events.

“The previous Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland was clear in his view that a FAI was necessary. “The new Lord Advocate needs to ensure that the necessary preparations are completed now to allow for an FAI to be triggered at the earliest possible opportunity once PIRC has finished their work.

“The families have waited for too long already. All of us need to know what went wrong and what steps Police Scotland will take to support call centre staff to ensure that an accident like this can never happen again. A full FAI will give us the clarity we need.”

Meanwhile, Police Scotland has been alerted to "debris" at the site of the crash.

The force said it was working to establish whether the items recovered on Friday were linked to last July's collision.

Chief Superintendent Stephen McAllister, the Forth Valley commander, said: "Police Scotland has been made aware of information relating to debris at the scene of the crash on the M9 last July."