1 February 2012 Last updated at 11:42 ET

Justice minister and lord advocate sorry over McKie print bungle

Shirley McKie was falsely accused of leaving her fingerprint at a murder scene

The justice secretary and lord advocate have apologised to Shirley McKie over the fingerprint scandal which wrecked the former police officers's career.

Kenny MacAskill and Frank Mulholland offered the apology after a public inquiry blamed "human error" for Ms McKie's ordeal.

She was accused of perjury after a print found at an Ayrshire murder scene in 1997 was wrongly identified as hers.

Ms McKie was cleared and awarded £750,000 compensation over the bungle.

'Nothing sinister'

A public inquiry into the affair, which reported in December, found that she had been the victim of "human error" and there was "nothing sinister" at work in her case.

Following the report, she received an apology from the Scottish Police Services Authority, which controls fingerprint services.

Her father Iain said hearing the government say sorry meant so much to the McKie family and would allow them to move on.

The case, which dates back more than 10 years, is one of the most controversial handled by the Scottish justice system and raised questions about the integrity of the fingerprint service.