MSPs have made a cross-party plea for a full independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Craig McClelland in July 2017.
Mr McClelland, a 31-year-old father-of-three, was murdered by James Wright in a random street attack carried out after the killer had breached his home release curfew six months earlier.
Wright was jailed for life after killing Mr McClelland in the victim’s hometown of Paisley. He was “unlawfully at large” having breached the conditions of his curfew.
The inquiry request has been made in a letter to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, which has been signed by Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesperson Daniel Johnson and Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie.
The MSPs claimed that reviews carried out on the case by the prisons and police inspectorates had not looked at the events of Mr McClelland’s death.
The letter said: “As you know, the HMIPS and HMICS reviews of home detention curfew arrangements did not look at the events which culminated in Craig’s death and the conviction of James Wright.
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“Despite being launched in the wake of the sentencing of James Wright, they were asked to conduct wider reviews of the system.
“They therefore failed to answer the family’s legitimate and serious questions. As they have said, ‘we are still in the dark as to why Craig’s murderer was free when he should have been behind bars’.
“We believe something clearly went very wrong and that it is incumbent on you to establish this.
“There must be clarity, in particular about the grounds and process for releasing James Wright in the first place and how he was allowed to be unlawfully at large when he broke the rules and should have been returned to prison.
Mr Yousaf said: “While nothing can take away the grief of the McClelland family, the Scottish Government will continue to do all we can to support the family to ensure that lessons are learned and improvements are made.
“I will reply to the letter as soon as possible, and will be meeting the family again shortly.
“Following the publication of the two independent inspectorate reports into the Home Detention Curfew scheme, I met with the family and advised that the Scottish Government, the Scottish Prison Service, and Police Scotland had accepted all of the reports’ recommendations, including considering making it a specific offence to remain ‘unlawfully at large’.
“I have asked both Inspectorates to review progress in six months’ time.”
