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ATTORNEY GENERAL'S PRESS RELEASE OF 23 MAY 1980
App
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Press Release:
"There was overwhelming evidence at the inquest into the death of Inspector MacLennan which shows that he committed suicide.
"Accordingly there is no reason to re-open the inquest, and I would have no power to do so under the Coroner's Ordinance".
This was stated today by the Attorney General, Mr. John Griffiths, Q.C., following completion of his study of the Coroner's 160 page record of the inquest.
Drawing attention to some of the evidence which led him to his conclusion the Attorney General said:
"It is clear that Inspector MacLennan died in the bedroom of his flat from gun shot wounds to his chest shortly after 6 a.m. The flat was on the fourth floor.
There are no balconies, and no lateral communication as the concrete ridge surrounding the building is, in fact,
intermittent".
The only access to the fourth floor flat occupied by Inspector MacLennan was the front door and the windows. The door was securely locked from the inside and had to be smashed down by police in the presence of Inspector MacLennan's solicitor.
"There was no question of the door being opened from the outside,” said Mr. Griffiths. "There were four locks and chains securely fastened from the inside. The key to the main lock was found on Inspector MacLennan's key-ring, which was found after entry on a table in the kitchen/living area”.
"The only way of even attempting to gain access to the flat through the windows would have been from above using a rope," he said. "But the windows were locked from the inside and they had not been forced or broken".
Inspector MacLennan's body was found in his bedroom, the door of which was locked. The police had to break down the door with a crowbar as it could only be locked, or unlocked, from the inside by snib on the handle. There was no key mechanism or other means of locking or unlocking the door from the outside.
General.
"Inspector MacLennan's solicitor was present nearby while that door was broken down too" said the Attorney
On the evidence concerning Inspector MacLennan's actions in the period before his body was found Mr. Griffiths pointed to evidence that:
Inspector MacLennan was warned that he was about to be interviewed by the Special Investigation Unit; He made a request for an early call at 5.30 a.m. on the morning his body was found, giving his own name and telephone number;
Inspector MacLennan visited the police armoury at 6 a.m. where he was recognized by the Station Sergeant on duty who knew him. On this occasion Inspector MacLennan told an untrue story to the armourer, who also knew him, that he was going out on a police raid and required his revolver.
On the question of the revolver used and the bullet wounds, Mr. Griffiths said the weapon which was issued to Inspector MacLennan proved to be that found beside his body, and two of the five bullets were positively proved by a ballistics expert to have been fired from it. The others were too badly damaged for identification.
Mr. Griffiths said that he was initially concerned that there were five bullet wounds, but he was now quite satisfied that there were documented cases in medical books of other persons in other parts of the world having committed suicide by shooting themselves in the chest many times. This view was supported by the evidence of an independent pathologist who said he believed it was perfectly possible for Inspector MacLennan to have shot himself five
times.