Scottish law enforcement authorities and American counterparts have an evidence sharing agreement for next year's new trial
The transfer of physical items of evidence from the bombed Boeing 747 Clipper Maid of the Seas – which crashed into Lockerbie and surrounding countryside 36 years ago this month – into US custody from Scotland has begun.
In the worst act of terrorism on British soil, a bomb punched a 50cm hole on the left side of the fuselage of Pan Am Flight 103 at 7.03pm on December 21,1988 – just 38 minutes after take off from London’s Heathrow, on its way to New York with 259 passengers and crew on board – while cruising at 31,000 feet above Lockerbie.
Initially, the wreckage of the jumbo jet was stored in Longtown and then moved to the Air Accident Investigation Branch facility in Farnborough, where its fuselage was reconstructed to help prosecutors. “The transfer of physical items of evidence from Scotland into US custody is beginning. The transfer includes parts of the fuselage of Pan Am 103 which are a production in the criminal investigation. We understand that the fuselage will hold significance for many of the families of those who lost their lives and they have been informed of the transfer plans.
Libyan intelligence agent Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 – at a Scottish court in the Netherlands which spanned 72 days and saw evidence from 227 witnesses – of the murders of 270 people by the introduction of an explosive device onto a civilian aircraft. Jailed for life, he was freed on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government while terminally ill with cancer in 2009 and died in Libya three years later – still protesting his innocence.
Dumfries & Galloway Lockerbie Bombing Lockerbie Dumfries And Galloway Council Police Scotland Terrorism Courts Justice
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