The Herald 31/08/2007
Murder conviction overturned after man claims he made false confession under police pressure
A man found guilty of a murder 25 years ago had his conviction overturned today after claiming that he cracked under police pressure and made a false confession.
Raymond Gilmour, 45, has always protested his innocence of the rape and killing of schoolgirl Pamela Hastie.
Today his mother Christina, 76, was at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh to see Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill announce the judges' decision.
"It has been a long wait but we got what we asked for," said an emotional Mrs Gilmour.
"It has been very tough all these years but I have never had any doubt he was innocent."
After Mrs Gilmour's brief glimpse of her son he was returned to the cells because he is still serving a 30 month sentence for flashing - committed after he was released from his life sentence on parole.
A trial 25 years ago heard that on the afternoon of November 4 1981 Pamela, 16, was walking home through Rannoch Wood, Johnstone, Renfrewshire.
Her attacker strangled her with a length of rough twine wound round her neck three times, after striking her on the head with a piece of wood and dragging her into bushes.
A post-mortem examination also showed she had been raped.
Gilmour quickly became a suspect. He was known to use the woods to expose himself and to masturbate.
When quizzed by detectives he admitted flashing in the woods the day before the murder.
A search uncovered pornography at the scene of the crime which matched others found in Gilmour's bedroom.
He was remanded in custody on a charge of indecent exposure and questioned again about the murder. On the way back to his cell he began to cry and told police: "I can't go on like this. I'll have to talk."
He went on to tell them that the schoolgirl had surprised him playing with himself. He knocked her down. She screamed and shouted and he hit her with a branch and tried to have sex with her.
Later he told another officer: "I didn't kill the girl. I only made it up to please the other police." Gilmour added: "I couldn't take any more questioning."
A senior police officer, Detective Superintendent James Brown thought the confession was a lie and Gilmour was released.
However, he remained a prime suspect and in January 1982 a new detective superintendent, Charles Craig took over the case.
Gilmour made a fresh confession to him in February 1982 - again admitting he had strangled Pamela.
Trial judge Lord Dunpark told the jury in June that year that if they did not believe Gilmour's confessions had been made voluntarily they should aquit him. The judge also hinted at parts of the "confessions" which did not match other evidence.
Nor was there any scientific evidence linking Gilmour to the dead schoolgirl.
The jury found Gilmour guilty by a majority of eight to six, appeal judges were told.
He was jailed for life and later lost an appeal against conviction.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission took up Gilmour's protests of his innocence and sent him back to the appeal court, noting that the inconsistencies in the confessions far outweighed the consistencies with other evidence.
Gilmour's defence solicitor, Gordon Ritchie, called in the help of top clinical psychologist Professor Gisli Gudjonsson.
The professor told an earlier hearing that although there was no evidence that Gilmour suffered from mental illness he was shy, immature and unlikely to cope well if pressurised by police.
Gilmour's defence team argued that this was "fresh evidence" which should free him.
Lord Gill, sitting with Lord Abernethy and Lady Paton, rejected the other grounds of appeal but ruled that the conviction should be quashed because of the professor's evidence.
Gilmour of Blackwood, Lanarkshire, served 21 years before he was released on parole.
While the appeal against the murder conviction was on-going, Gilmour found himself behind bars again and admitted flashing at the girls.
Gilmour's licence was also revoked and he was ordered to continue to serve his life sentence.
1:35pm Thursday 30th August 2007