Country cop on trail of international terrorists

the chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary, who leaves

office and charge of the Lockerbie murder inquiry next week.

By nature self-effacing, Mr Boyd has answered detractors with deeds

and he walks out of the pressure cooker with dignity intact and his

stock riding high in the corridors of power here at home, in London,

Bonn, New York and Washington.

The criminal investigation which he has commanded has made great

strides. Unofficially, because of the entirely commendable requirement

in Scots law for total evidential integrity, there is now a case which

could be presented in court. Although the security of the Scottish end

of the investigation remains as unbreachable as ever, it is reasonable

to speculate from the leaked information from other capitals that there

are firm suspects.

John Boyd, who spoke this week to the Glasgow Herald, will bow out

with some regrets because he will leave with the book still open, the

case incomplete, the crime unresolved.

''But the policy has been laid down and when my successor walks in the

inquiry will continue on its well-oiled way,'' he said.

His own way takes him into the higher reaches of policing, inspecting

Scottish forces for efficiency, advising on improvements or innovations,

passing on his vast experience to other senior police managers and

directly to the Scottish Secretary.

And, one in the eye for the famously self-important English chief

constable, now retired but no less vocal, who said that international

intelligence services were unlikely to share their knowledge with a

local plod, John Boyd has, this week, been the honoured guest at

Bramshill, the English police senior staff college, where he lectured on

his experiences of the last six months. He has already done the same for

Scots superintendents at Tulliallan and leaves soon for Ottawa in what

is likely to be the start of an international round of teaching and

sharing.

Had Lockerbie never happened and had John Boyd retired on May 31 as he

had planned, he would have been able to reflect on a fine police career

marked by high professionalism. He has been a uniform foot soldier, a

detective, a planner, commander of a busy division in Glasgow, an

assistant chief constable in charge of all crime matters in Strathcylde

-- next to the Met, Britain's biggest force -- chairman of the Scottish

Secretary's crime prevention committee and president of the nation's

chief officers' association.

He admits his thoughts had already crossed the hill, that he was

looking ahead to the new challenge, at age 55, of the Inspectorate, when

death rained on the Scottish Borders at three minutes past seven on

December 21.

''When it happened there was a feeling of disbelief and shock which

was quickly replaced by the feeling that we could not look back. We had

to look forward, to respond in the most professional way possible yet do

so while having compassion for other people,'' he states.

Policemen who worked on the Lockerbie disaster aftermath and in the

subsequent harrowing inquiry have talked often about the support from

John Boyd's office. The door was always open.

''I was immediately in a position of great pressure. I laid down five

principles, five aims for the team to work to. The first was total

accuracy, the second the best co-ordination possible, the third was the

concrete priority of gathering in every shred of physical evidence from

the plane, the fourth involved the meticulous timing of the release of

information and the fifth was to ensure the proper diplomatic processes

were observed in all overseas enquiries.''

One effect of this structured approach, and the strict observance of

Scots law's requirement for prejudice-free evidence, is that the

standard of the case which will eventually be in the hands of the Lord

Advocate is such as to satisfy the evidential requirements of any other

country in the world. This may well prove vital.

Any one of the 21 countries who lost nationals in the explosion could

in theory prosecute if they secured the presence of a suspect on their

territory. There is a strong argument for such a prosecution to take

place in America, because of the presence of the death penalty.

The decision to hand over evidence and witnesses, and who and what to

hand over, would be taken by the Lord Advocate after discussions on the

requirements of the jurisdictions involved.

The fact that this willingness exists scotches the speculations of

strife between British, American and German police, intelligence

services and justice departments. The very presence of Scottish

officers, even now, in America and Germany has likewise ensured that

evidence gathered by the authorities there meets Scottish requirements

in law.

John Boyd says; ''Of course there were hiccoughs, but they were just

that and we handled them as they came up. These had to be kept in

perspective.''

Of the the flow of information, he says: ''It was very important that

we gave proper responses at the proper time. It was one of the

biggest-ever international disasters and the biggest international mass

murder. Had it only been the first we could have given everyone as much

information as they needed. It is still very important to keep the world

informed but we must always protect the integrity of the murder

inquiry.''

He insists that these pressures still exist but is just as adamant

that he will not respond to speculation, even if it is attributed to

American officials; ''It does nothing but fan the flames.''

There was intense pressure too from distressed relatives.

''Pan Am were flying people into Lockerbie -- brothers, sisters, aunts

and uncles -- but often they were not the next of kin. We had to be very

sympathetic but we had to resist the pressures to take shortcuts. I kept

thinking that whatever pressures I was under were nothing compared with

those on the relatives. Anyone who tried to hide behind a macho image in

a situation like that would do himself more harm than good.''

As far as the Americans were concerned, Lockerbie was not only a mass

murder but an assault on their nation, he believes, and their response

was natural.

''I can assure everyone that the Scottish police and the American

security services have worked and are still working well together. What

they do all the time, monitoring international terrorism, is of the

utmost importance, but you cannot take a case to court on intelligence.

You require hard evidence, whether it is circumstantial, forensic or

best evidence, that of witnesses. It would be foolish to say we would

not take as much advice and assistance from other agencies as we can but

we could not deal direct with intelligence agencies outside the UK --

there are diplomatic channels for that.''

He rejects the notion that the Scottish investigation is a waste of

time and resources and that the denouement will come in Damascus, or

Tripoli or Beruit.

''If you thought you might never reach a conclusion you might as well

shut up shop. A murder inquiry is a murder inquiry regardless of where

the suspect is. It is very wrong to get to the stage that we take it as

inevitable that if criminal atrocities happen on this scale we cannot

respond within the laws laid down, whether nationally or

internationally.

''We must never be panicked into coming out with wild speculations. We

must keep working hard at it. There are no shortcuts.''

What happened in his patch also knocks into a cocked hat the calls

from the English MP, John Wheeler, for new ''super forces'' to take us

into Europe and for a national disaster emergency force -- yet another

bee in Mr John Alderson's bonnet.

''When Dumfries and Galloway needed it most, mutual aid worked at its

best,'' he maintains.

''The facilities and the personnel we received from our bigger

neighbours allowed us to respond in the most professional way possible.

No praise can be high enough for the way officers responded, both as

policemen and as humans.

''Because we are a small force it is possible for the men to get

closer to the public than in urban areas. That relationship was

invaluable and must never be lost. The tripartite agreement -- the chief

constable, the local authority and the Scottish Office -- also works and

was shown to work.

''One of the important lessons is that if these things are ever to be

replaced then a great deal of thought must go into ensuring that these

relationships are not damaged.''

I kept thinking that whatever pressures I was under were nothing

compared with those on the relatives