|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
News Search
|
|
25-08-2005 Scotsman Police follow new leads in hunt for Rory's murderer By Gethin Chamberlain Chief News Correspondent SCHOOLBOY Rory Blackhall might be alive today if his school had raised the alarm about his disappearance when he failed to turn up for classes, one of the officers leading the murder hunt said yesterday. Detective Inspector Tom Martin said if schools contacted parents when children did not turn up, it would give police a crucial head-start in any subsequent investigation. His comments came as the Executive revealed the education minister Peter Peacock was reviewing the policy on when and how schools contacted parents should children fail to turn up. West Lothian Council has announced its own review. Last night police revealed that they had received 600 phonecalls from members of the public since the launch of their appeal for information. The calls provided two leads. The first was a sighting of a boy matching Rory's description walking away from Meldrum Primary school in Livingston, where he was a pupil, shortly after he was dropped off by his mother. The second was a sighting of a blonde woman standing at a bus stop in the area. A cyclist told police the denim-clad woman was waiting at the bus stop, but did not get on when a bus arrived. Police believe the woman may have seen the boy walking along Deans Road East and said it was vital she was traced. Detectives were still waiting for the results of forensic tests in the hope of establishing when, and how, Rory was killed, and they were also hoping for a breakthrough in the search for his schoolbag. But they remained in the dark about what happened during the missing 76 hours after Rory was dropped off last Thursday. And there is growing concern about the delay in reporting Rory's disappearance, which allowed the trail to go cold. The seriousness of that delay was emphasised by Mr Martin, who said it may have been the difference between life and death for Rory. "We will never know whether he would have been found if the alarm was raised earlier, but it is possible that he would have been found alive," he said. "Given the close-knit family that he came from, had the school contacted the family at 9am that morning, the family's response would have been exactly the same as it was at 3:30pm - to alert the police - and we would have been able to start searching straightaway." But he confirmed that, instead, police did not become aware of Rory's disappearance until the boy's grandfather turned up at the school to be told he had not been there all day. "By the very nature of the fact that the police were not alerted until 3:30pm, there has clearly been a delay," said Mr Martin. "The early hours and days are always the most important. I don't know what the school policy is but, from the police point of view, of course it would be useful if schools phoned parents to let them know if a child does not turn up." West Lothian Council, which is responsible for the school, has previously stated it is the responsibility of parents to get their children to school, but promised to review existing policies and procedures. A spokesman said: "We will do this in consultation with parents and the police and we will take full account of any national guidance that might be forthcoming." Outside the school, parents were divided over whether Rory's parents should have been contacted. Kirsty Mason, 28, who has a daughter in primary two, said: "I don't think the school is responsible in any way. The school has made it clear it's up to you to phone in, not for them to phone you. It's also up to all parents to escort their children to school and see them safely inside the gate." But Catriona McMillan said: "The school should let parents know by texting or ringing home. You don't want children wandering the streets. I think the police are quite right." Judith Gillespie, of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said: "You have to look at the practicalities. Traditionally, if a child does not attend school, it is a parent's responsibility - but if the child is only likely to be off for one day, it is quite common not to contact the school and to send a note with the child when they return the following day. This is sensible because the school office is not a call centre and cannot deal with a large volume of calls." Meanwhile, police have been pleased with the response to their appeal for information, which had elicited 600 calls by last night. About 90 officers are now involved in the investigation, with many more being brought in to staff phones, carry out house-to-house inquiries and help search the area. Police say they are running a 24-hour operation, with ten officers on duty at any one time. Mr Martin said calls had flooded in: "Experience shows you probably get a better response when the victim in a murder is a child. It strikes home to a lot more people. Clearly parents of children can relate to the pain and heartache the family are going through." Officers are using profilers and other experts to help them build up a picture of who may have attacked Rory, although Mr Martin said they needed to be given time. "They are not going to walk in and in two days say, 'It is Jimmy Smith at number 90'. But they'll give us lines of inquiry." However, he said he was optimistic about catching the killer: "We are definitely not working blind. I am always optimistic of a result and I have no reason to change that in this inquiry."
|
|
||||
|
................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
|||||||
