Perpetrator of Loch Murders Faces Another Setback in Legal Challenge to Exonerate Themselves
William Beggs sought assistance from Scotland's highest court in his quest to obtain evidence he contends will exonerate him from the charge of murder.
In his pursuit of exoneration from the accusation of Barry Wallace’s murder, William Beggs, notorious for the “Limbs in the Loch” case, has faced yet another legal setback. The 59-year-old enlisted legal representation to approach the Inner House of Court of Session in Edinburgh, Scotland’s apex civil court, with the hope of overturning a decision handed down by the Scottish Information Commissioner, Daren Fitzhenry, in June 2021.
Beggs contested Fitzhenry’s ruling, which supported Police Scotland’s denial of the release of CCTV footage recorded in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, on the night of Mr. Wallace’s demise. Additionally, he sought information pertaining to the police inquiry into the murder, based on statements provided to investigators during the investigation. Beggs maintained that this evidence would corroborate his claim of a miscarriage of justice.
The court’s published verdict, disclosed on Friday, recounts Beggs’ initial request in 2010 under the Freedom of Information legislation. The police, however, declined to furnish the requested information, a decision that Fitzhenry upheld in 2011. This triggered a series of legal challenges, all of which were rebuffed. In 2018, Beggs made a second bid to Police Scotland for the information, only to encounter another refusal. This prompted him to appeal to the Information Commissioner, asserting that the police had failed to adhere to the relevant legislation.
While his legal team contended that Mr. Fitzhenry had misinterpreted the freedom of information legislation in evaluating Beggs’ request, the published judgement on Friday countered this. Judge Lord Malcolm, in agreement with colleagues Lord Tyre and Lord Doherty, asserted that the Commissioner had diligently approached his task. They emphasized that the court’s role was not to reassess the merits of the appeal but to intervene solely in cases of legal error, of which none were evident in this instance.
Beggs is currently serving a life sentence for the heinous murder and dismemberment of a young supermarket employee, who went missing after a staff Christmas celebration in December 1999. The discovery of the dismembered body, a fortuitous outcome of a police diving exercise in Loch Lomond, shocked the nation. Mr. Wallace’s head subsequently washed ashore near Troon, a grim aftermath of Beggs’ grim ferry escapade.
Despite being incarcerated, Beggs has persistently pursued various legal avenues, including a protracted appeal, all of which have culminated in futile outcomes. In his most recent hearing, his legal representatives sought to challenge Mr. Fitzhenry’s decision. Nevertheless, the court ultimately declined to rule in Beggs’ favor, as articulated in the written judgement delivered by Lord Malcolm: “For the aforementioned reasons, the appeal against the Commissioner’s decision is rejected.”
