Lord Advocate admits Scotland's 'racist' justice system failed victim's community

A catalogue of "incompetence, ignorance and institutional racism" was blamed for the failure of Scotland's legal authorities to secure justice in a case which mirrors that of the Stephen Lawrence killing.

In presenting the findings of two reports into the murder of a Sikh waiter, Surjit Singh Chhokar, the Lord Advocate admitted the country's criminal justice system, including the police and the Crown Office, was institutionally racist and had failed in its duty to the victim's family and a "vulnerable minority community".

Mr Chhokar, 32, was stabbed to death in the street outside his home in Overtown, Lanarkshire in November 1998 following a scuffle with three men about a giro cheque. The attack was witnessed by his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bryce, who identified the attackers to police. All three were arrested but, in what has been described as an incompetent error of judgement, the Crown Office decided only to prosecute one, Ronnie Coulter.

Mr Coulter lodged a special defence naming the other two men – his cousin Andrew Coulter and David Montgomery – as the killers and he was acquitted of murder in March 1999 but found guilty of assault.

The Chhokar family launched a campaign for justice. Following months of pressure, the other two men were put on trial for murder in November last year. But that case also descended into farce when the two accused blamed Ronnie Coulter for the killing and were both acquitted of murder. Andrew Coulter was, however, jailed for a year for the lesser crime of assault. None of the three can be prosecuted for the murder again.

The failure by the authorities to secure a murder conviction against any of the accused led to the case being compared with that of the murdered black London teenager, Stephen Lawrence. His father, Neville, wrote a letter of support to the Chhokar family.

The furore surrounding the case prompted the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd QC to order two independent inquiries. The first, headed by Sir Anthony Campbell, Justice of the Supreme Court of Northern Ireland, was asked to look into the handling of the police investigation and legal proceedings. The second, by Dr Raj Jandoo, Scotland's first Asian advocate and deputy chairman of the Scottish Executive's Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Steering Group, was asked to examine the family's treatment. Both uncovered fundamental mistakes by the prosecution in preparing the case and in liaising with the family.

But while Sir Anthony said there was no evidence to suggest racist behaviour influenced those mistakes, Dr Jandoo confirmed serious failures and ignorance by the Crown Office and procurator fiscal amounted to institutional racism.

"Dr Jandoo found evidence of institutional racism, defined as occurring wherever the service provided by an organisation fails to meet equally the needs of all the people whom it serves having regard to their racial, ethnic or cultural background," the Lord Advocate told the Scottish Parliament. "Such institutional racism was reflected in the way the police and the procurator fiscal went about their liaison with the relatives. In particular, the police failed to appreciate the affect a major crime has on members of a vulnerable minority community.

"The police and the procurator fiscal were not sufficiently prepared to respond readily to Sikh funeral customs. The procurator fiscal's office failed to realise [his father] would need an interpreter. I accept these findings. We have failed the Chhokar family." However he promised that "from these two reports will follow reforms that will aim to ensure that such a case never happens again".

He announced a review of the High Court system and Internal Crown Office procedures along with the formation of a dedicated High Court unit in Glasgow, an independent Crown office inspectorate and an inspection into race and the police to be carried out next year.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Aamer Anwar, the Chhokar Family Justice campaign lawyer, said: "If there is to be a legacy of Surjit Singh Chhokar and all those who have lost their lives to racism and bigotry, we demand that no other family should ever again have to start a campaign to fight for justice and accountability."

The Lord Advocate announced an investigation would be carried out into the leaking of elements of the report to the weekend media following a request from the victim's father, Darshan Singh Chhokar. The family had been given an assurance it would be consulted on the contents prior to public release.