The Scottish Secretary, Mr Donald Dewar, last night reversed the decision to transfer convicted murderer, Jason Campbell, from Scotland to the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Following growing opposition from the Catholic Church in Scotland and politicians of many parties, Mr Dewar said: "It appears that this application was not handled as it should have been, but we are now clearer about the facts, and they leave me in no doubt that he should not have been offered a transfer to Northern Ireland."
Mr Dewar said Campbell's transfer could not go ahead because he had discovered that at least one of the key claims made by Campbell in his application was "false". The person named by Campbell as a relative did not appear to be a member of his family.
Mr Dewar said the application had been turned down under the rules of the Criminal Justice Act 1961. This stated that a prisoner could request a transfer to a prison closer to relatives.
Mr Dewar's statement explained why the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, had supported the transfer application in the light of the wider implications for the Northern Ireland peace process.
If facts had not been "checked as thoroughly as otherwise they might have been," he said, "then the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I both regret this."
The strength of opposition to Campbell's transfer gathered pace during the week as church and political figures challenged the British government to explain why a man convicted of a savage murder should be awarded the status of a "political prisoner".
Campbell (24) was sentenced to life in 1995 for the murder of football fan Mark Scott (16). Mr Scott was walking home after watching his team, Celtic, beat Partick Thistle. As he celebrated the victory with two friends, Campbell came up behind him and cut his throat.
Cardinal Winning, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, wrote to Mr Dewar on Thursday to warn him that if Campbell was transferred to the Maze he risked lighting "the blue touch-paper of sectarianism in Scotland."
In his letter to Mr Dewar, Cardinal Winning made clear that he had been reluctant to become involved in the dispute but had changed his mind when it was clear the decision to transfer Campbell would not be reversed. He told Mr Dewar that Campbell could not be considered a political prisoner because his crime "was an act of savagery" and that the continuing silence of the Scottish Office on the issue since Tuesday was not acceptable.
The former Tory Northern Ireland minister, Mr Michael Ancram, said yesterday the handling of the case raised questions about the future of the Scottish Office prisons' minister, Mr Henry McLeish. Earlier this week, Mr McLeish requested an urgent report on the transfer before finally agreeing to stand by the decision on Tuesday.
Mr Ancram said he was very surprised to learn of Mr Dewar's intervention at such a late stage. "I can only ask did his minister, Henry McLeish, know what was going on, because if he didn't then certainly I think his position must be in question," said Mr Ancram.
The British government was severely criticised earlier this week by the Scottish National Party's justice spokeswoman, Ms Roseanna Cunningham, who said Campbell was a sectarian "bigot" and should not be treated as a political prisoner.
However, set against the backdrop of the peace process and the British government's "confidence-building" measures, the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) raised the question of Campbell's transfer soon after he began his life sentence at Shott's Prison in Lanarkshire.
The PUP said UVF "foot soldiers" had requested Campbell's transfer although the party accepted yesterday that Campbell was "most definitely" not a political prisoner.