THE father of Lawrence Haggart last night relived the nightmare of the past two years in which he not only lost a son, but saw his youngest son accused of the murder.

At his home in Dunipace, Stirlingshire, Mr Larry Haggart, 37, described the conduct of certain police officers as ''totally shocking''.

He said his lawyer had a dossier of complaints about the initial Central Scotland Police investigation.

His principal complaint is that for a year after the murder the police persisted in focusing the investigation on Lawrence's brother Dennis, who was 12 at the time, despite producing no evidence against him.

Amongst other grievances, Mr Haggart claims:

q Officers mishandled evidence from the scene of the crime.

q A senior CID officer told him face-to-face that Dennis was guilty and that the police had the evidence to prove it.

q Officers twice insisted that Mr Haggart confront his son and ask him to confess to the murder.

q Police maintained no regular contact with the family other than frequently turning up unannounced to take Dennis and his older brother John for questioning.

In a further criticism of the police and the procurator-fiscal service in Falkirk, Mr Haggart claims that after the police submitted their report on Dennis, the family heard nothing for two months. When Mr Haggart eventually inquired into what was happening, he says he was told by the fiscal's office that they had ''forgotten'' to reply. Two days later he received a two-line letter saying Dennis would not be brought to trial.

Last night a spokesman for the procurator-fiscal in Falkirk said that any complaints would be dealt with and responded to appropriately.

Mr Haggart, a painter and decorator, said: ''I accept it was a hard case for the police, but I think right from the start they didn't do their job right. For a year we had to live with being told that there was evidence to incriminate Dennis with the murder. It was devastating.

''I was told face to face by one of the police officers that they had evidence against Dennis and that Dennis was going to be charged.

''I couldn't take it in. We were brought up to believe what the police tell you and to respect them and when a top CID man tells you that your son murdered his brother, what are you supposed to think? He asked me to come home and ask Dennis to confess to it. I mean, how do I feel sitting asking my laddie, come on Dennis did you do it?

''I was pulled in and told that the investigation was finished, the evidence suggested it was Dennis and a report was being forwarded to the fiscal. We waited for two months. We were sitting in limbo. In the end I had to phone to find out what was happening and the answer I got was 'Oh sorry, we forgot about that'. I got a letter two days later with two lines saying a case wouldn't be brought.''

Mr Haggart said it was only after he made an official complaint through his lawyer that police decided to review the investigation.

He said: ''For the first year the police were totally shocking. They didn't give us any help whatsoever. They never kept us up to date with what was happening.

''As far as I'm concerned they seemed quite happy to leave the case in limbo. I think they would have been quite happy to leave it with us thinking they had evidence against Dennis and not push the investigation any further.

''There was nothing done until we went and made a complaint. I wonder if I hadn't done anything if we would have just been left to wonder for the rest of our lives what really happened.''

After the complaint, Detective Superintendent Joe Holden, then head of Central Scotland Police CID, took over the case and had an immediate positive impact.

Mr Haggart said: ''Joe Holden came in and really got into the nitty gritty of it and turned things around. He did some real good investigating and that put our mind at ease a bit. He sorted things out for us the way it should have been in the first place. Every week we got an update on what was happening.''

Within a week, Mr Holden brought in renowned English criminal psychologist Adrian West to interview Dennis and John Haggart. He concluded that there was no way Dennis had murdered his brother.

Mr Holden then set out on the trail of Brian Beattie which led to his conviction for murder yesterday.

Despite the ordeal, Mr Haggart, who split up with Lawrence's mother Janet three years before the murder, has maintained good relationships with his sons. He hopes they can now get on with rebuilding their lives.

Beattie's defence counsel tried to argue that jealousy over Lawrence's footballing ability had led Dennis to murder him. Ironically Dennis has developed into a promising footballer and has already been involved in the Scottish youth team.

Mr Haggart now hopes that Dennis can go on to achieve what Lawrence was denied.

He said: ''My dream was always to be sitting in the stand at Parkhead watching my son play for Celtic's first team. Lawrence won't do that now. Maybe Dennis can do it for his brother.''

Last night, three men who were attacked by Beattie joined Mr Haggart in criticising the police and the legal system for not dealing with Beattie before he became a murderer.

The men were amongst a number of victims attacked by Beattie as he conducted a reign of terror in the towns of Falkirk, Denny, Larbert and Stenhousemuir in the early 1990s.

One victim, who was 17 when Beattie sexually assaulted him in his own home in August, 1990, said he had nothing but contempt for Central Scotland Police for the way they investigated his ordeal.

The man, who is now 25 and did not wish to be named, claimed police refused to believe him when he reported the assault, and that a detective threatened to charge him for wasting police time if he did not sign a statement saying he had made up the story.

He said it was only weeks later, after Beattie had attacked more victims, that police contacted him again and said they believed his story.

Following his first series of assaults, Beattie was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, a verdict which the victim described as ''laughable''.

He said: ''I thought it was a joke. It was disgusting.''

Mr Lawrence Kane, who managed to fight Beattie off after waking up to find him holding a knife to his stomach, also claimed that police initially refused to believe him when he reported the attack.

He said he found it incredible that such a dangerous man had been allowed to roam free.

Mr Kane, who was 21 at the time of the attack, also in August, 1990, said: ''They knew the type of guy that he was and that he was going to kill somebody.

''He should have been put away for longer. I think it is terrible negligence with the law.''

Another victim, who also managed to fight Beattie off, said he too was disbelieved by police.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ''They tried to pick holes in my story. They seemed to be under the impression that I had made it all up.''