CALLOUS FISCAL AT IT AGAIN; Second family hit out at `insensitive' lawman.

Byline: JANICE BURNS EXCLUSIVE

A LAWMAN yesterday faced a new call to quit after a grieving couple said they were treated with "utter contempt".

Mary and Jim Conway claimed they were left "appalled and distressed" after being quizzed by Ayr procurator fiscal Ian Murray over the suicide of their son, Stephen.

And their demand that Murray resign is being backed by Frank and Linda Armstrong, who suffered a similar ordeal at the hands of Murray.

At the interview with Murray, Mary Conway was desperate to find out the time of their son's death - because she felt she could have stopped him hanging himself if she had gone straight home from work.

But when she asked Murray, he replied: "Come off it. This is not the television, you know. We can't just give an exact time."

Mary said: "I was gob-smacked. We are not stupid. We know it doesn't work that way. I thought it was a perfectly normal question to ask for an approximate time.

"I just wanted to know how long my poor son had been hanging there dead and alone.

"I'd been on nightshift and had gone to the shops to pick up some things for his breakfast. It was important for me to know the time of death - I was blaming myself.

"I kept thinking maybe if I had come straight home after my shift, could I have saved him?"

The Conways, from Ayr, came forward after reading how grieving Linda and Frank Armstrong had walked out of a similar meeting with Murray.

Their daughter, Lindsay, was raped in her home town of New Cumnock, Ayrshire.

And she killed herself with an overdose after a trial where she was forced to hold up the underwear she was wearing when she was attacked.

The Armstrongs were faced with a string of questions from Murray, including: "What makes you think she intended to kill herself?"

Now it has been revealed that Lindsay's case is being handled by another fiscal.

And Frank said: "I fully support the Conways because we feel Murray's manner is absolutely appalling. We felt that he didn't give a damn about Lindsay.

"He cannot treat families with any kind of respect or sensitivity. He has got to go."

Stephen Conway killed himself weeks after splitting from his partner of 14 years and mother of his two young children.

The 32-year-old double glazing fitter went to live with his parents while he tried for a reconciliation.

But Stephen snapped after a double blow - his partner told him she had another man and, because they weren't married, he had no parental rights to his kids.

In his suicide note, he told his parents that he couldn't bear to live without his children.

Stephen had been prescribed anti-depressants by his GP and was seen by a psychiatrist from Ayr Hospital hours before he died.

Production operator Mary said: "During the meeting Murray said he didn't think there was any point in a fatal accident inquiry because there was no one else there when he died.

"I was extremely upset and said I thought the medical profession should have seen the signs but he just ignored me.

"He also said there was a suicide note for Stephen's partner and I made the remark that I felt in some way she was responsible.

"He turned to me and said, `I won't be having her in for a grilling'.

"What a terrible thing to say. I didn't expect him to grill her. It was just something I said. Murray was so cold and insensitive. Jim and I felt like idiots. Murray told us he would try to find out a rough time of death but we never heard back from him so we had to get it from our doctor."

And she added: "How many more families have to suffer like this? He has got to go. He is the wrong man for the job. It is almost as if he doesn't care about people."

After Jim and Mary complained, they got a letter of apology from Murray. In it he said: "I was surprised and concerned that you thought that some of the expressions which I used were inappropriate."

And local MSP Phil Gallie, who took up the matter, wrote: "Mr Murray fully recognises both the shortcomings and implications surrounding the death of your son."

Last night, the Crown Office said the investigation into Lindsay's death had been passed on to area fiscal Janet Cameron.

A new service, the Victim Liaison Office, is being brought in to deal with bereaved families.

But they rejected suggestions that Murray should resign.

A spokesman said: "He is an experienced and sensitive prosecutor. The procurator fiscal's department has every confidence in Mr Murray."