Police chief must resign: Clutha victim’s son

The son of a victim of the Clutha tragedy has called on under-fire SPA chief Vic Emery to quit.

The Sunday Post last week revealed Mr Emery clawed back money for going to funerals of three of the 10 helicopter crash victims.

He subsequently offered to pay the money part of his day rate to charity when we challenged the SPA about the claims.

Now, John McGarrigle, whose dad John snr, 57, died in the tragedy has called on Emery, who banked £90,000 last year for his part-time role, to resign.

He said: “His position is untenable. To claim money back to attend the funerals of your colleagues seems to me utterly inappropriate and a slap in the face.

“This is a man who earns a lot of money and the cost to him personally would have been pennies. His actions are a disgrace and I believe he should step down from his post. It’s shameful a man in his position would think that claiming money back is appropriate.”

Meanwhile, Mr Emery has been told the buck stops with him after “seeking clarity” with Government officials over his Clutha funeral claims. Mr Emery said he and his board members had claimed expenses for the funerals and memorial services because “we all judged that these were professional responsibilities as well as personal commitments”, but will “seek further clarity from the Scottish Government on what constitutes corporate and personal activities”.

The Sunday Post has learned that Mr Emery met with Scottish Government officials last week and was told such claims were a judgement call that he had to make as chairman of the body in charge of monitoring Scotland’s single police force.

It is also understood that Justice Secretary Michael Matheson was furious when he was told of the SPA board’s Clutha expense claims.

The SPA is coming under pressure over its accountability of Police Scotland with Tory leader Ruth Davidson calling for a review of the watchdog over its role in the row over police