Donald Campbell (46), who had learning difficulties, was found in the Caledonian Canal on November 20, 2002.

But his brother George (61), of Johnston Place in Hilton, has remained convinced there has been a cover-up by the city nursing home where Donald was a resident.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) conducted in Inverness in 2004 concluded that Mr Campbell took his own life having first swallowed 50 milligrammes of the sedative Lorazepam.

But Sheriff Ian Ingles, who conducted the inquiry, questioned why no witnesses had been called to support a claim made by staff of Kinmylies Lodge Nursing Home that Mr Campbell’s Lorazepam medication had been returned to a chemist after his death.

George Campbell insists the question of how his brother came into possession of such a large quantity of the drug has never been answered.

And Sheriff Ingles himself observed at the FAI that no receipt for the return of Mr Campbell’s medication had been produced.

Mr Campbell has battled for two years for the case to be reopened because he was unhappy with the sheriff’s findings.

“Myself and my four sisters do not believe Donald would ever take his own life,” he told the Highland News.

He raised the matter with MSP Fergus Ewing who wrote to the Lord Advocate Elish Angioloni expressing his concerns over possible shortcomings of the FAI and seeking a review.

Mr Campbell has now learned that a review is under way.

Mr Ewing was advised that the lord advocate had passed his concerns on to the Solicitor General for Scotland who in a letter to the MSP has confirmed that Crown officials are now undertaking a review of the handling of the case.

The solicitor general’s office told Mr Ewing: “This work has taken longer than was anticipated, and while this has delayed our response I can advise the solicitor general has this matter under active consideration and will provide a full response shortly.”

Mr Campbell told the Highland News: “I am grateful to Fergus Ewing for pursuing this case on my behalf.

“Myself and other family members are being asked to believe that Donald went out into the street and obtained illegally exactly the same amount of Lorazepam as in his medication supposed to be still in the home.

“I worked for years for an undertaker and one of the first things police do in any sudden death investigation is they gather all medication relating to the victim.

“Why wasn’t that done in this case?

“It was two weeks after Donald’s death before the pathologist identified the Lorazepam in his system.

“The procurator fiscal should have launched an investigation then and asked where the Lorazepam came from then.

“No-one was asked to account for the whereabouts of the medication and the question was only asked two years later at the FAI when we were given no satisfactory answer.”

The procurator fiscal’s office has insisted the circumstances of Mr Campbell’s death “were fully and carefully investigated” before being presented to the FAI.

Mr Ewing told the Highland News this week: “I am pleased the matter is being reopened.

“Although we cannot prejudge the outcome of the investigation, I welcome the fact that the Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini has shown that she is willing to listen and look again at alleged miscarriages of justice.

“Hopefully at the end of the investigation there will be some closure for Mr Campbell and his family.”

d.wilson@highland-news.co.uk

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