A couple who watched the cabbie accused of murdering their son walk free will tell a major review how the not proven verdict is robbing families of closure.
Craig Kearney, 24, was found bleeding to death in an East Kilbride road in March 2017 after a row with taxi driver Derek McClinton - who was accused of deliberately running him over.
McClinton admitted “clipping” the amateur footballer with his car and driving off during his trial at the High Court in Glasgow earlier this year.
But Craig’s mum and dad, Barry and Marie, were left in turmoil when a jury found the charge against him not proven.
The Kearneys’ case was raised during a debate in the Scottish Parliament this week and now they will tell a Scottish Government consultation how the country’s three-verdict system is devastating families like theirs.
Marie said: “The law needs to change now.
“For four-and-a-half years we felt as though we were working towards some kind of closure.
“There will never be closure for us now. The person who murdered our son is still not in jail.
“We will never get justice and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it.”
Craig got into a row with McClinton after being picked up by his Skoda in Glasgow city centre following a night out for his girlfriend’s birthday.
The court heard Craig complained about the route and called the cabbie “specky” on route to East Kilbride, where his girlfriend Olivia Geraghty lived.
Olivia told jurors both men had looked as if they wanted to “fight” after pulling up. McClinton claimed he spotted Craig with a brick or stone as he got back into his taxi , “clipping” him as he drove off.
The taxi driver insisted Craig, of Neilston, near Glasgow, was “definitely conscious” when he left the estate but he was later found in a pool of blood and died from his head injuries.
McClinton, of East Kilbride, denied murder and his QC, Donald Findlay, argued during the trial that there had been “insufficient evidence” to prove homicide.
Barry said: “Not Proven was the worst possible scenario for us.
“It was a complete and utter shock.
“There were tyre marks all over my boy’s body - that’s why we’re so bitter about it.
“McClinton drove away and left him in the street. Why didn’t he stop? Why didn’t he phone the taxi company or the police?”
Barry and Marie requested a meeting with Justice Secretary Keith Brown after the verdict.
Marie said: “I wrote to him and got a standard reply back.
“I wrote to the Lord Advocate and the procurator fiscal responded with a standard reply.
“Nobody wants to know and we feel totally let down.
“I feel the verdict was a total cop out."
A three-month consultation launched on Monday will gather views on the three-verdict model from the public, legal professionals and those with experience of the justice system, while also considering jury size, the majority required for conviction and corroboration.
Barry said: “Not proven has made everything worse. It’s not an answer for anybody.
“We want to be part of the push now to get rid of it.
“We know it will not change anything for us but we don’t wish any family to feel like this again because of the not proven verdict.”
Scottish Conservative shadow community safety minister Russell Findlay, who raised the Kearneys' case in Parliament this week, said: “Marie and her family know through the tragic loss of their son Craig all about the painful injustice of not proven.
“The Kearney family, along with many others across Scotland, have run out of patience with a Scottish Government addicted to reviews, working groups, consultations and other talking shops.
“I share their suspicion that the latest SNP justice minister is yet again going to kick this issue into the long grass, which is why the Scottish Conservatives are pushing ahead to scrap not proven.
“We know the arguments, we’ve been talking about it for years. There is cross-party political consensus and it is time for action.
“Our plan to scrap not proven is one of several measures in our proposed Victims Law, which will put victims at the heart of Scotland’s criminal justice system.”
Keith Brown said this week the Scottish Government has “no settled view on potential next steps” with regard to not proven’s future but wants to listen to consultees before making a decision.
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