Lawyer weighs in on Ross appeal chances

The lawyer for Michael Ross is appealing to members of the Orkney community to come forward with information about the controversial case — and the key witness who brought it to court.

After the airing of a new BBC series about the 1994 murder of Shamsuddin Mahmood, solicitor Aamer Anwar said residents should be “up in arms asking for Michael to be freed.”

He has also weighed in on the revelation, aired in The Man in the Mask: An Orkney Murder last week, that a former member of Ross’s defence team thinks he is guilty.

The documentary, examining the cold-blooded shooting of the Bangladeshi waiter, also includes the first on-camera interview with the key witness in the case, William Grant.

In an interview with The Orcadian this week, Mr Anwar said he will be going “back to the drawing board” and speaking with senior counsel to reconsider ways to challenge the conviction.

He still believes that new evidence is required, and told the newspaper he thinks there are people who know key information that have never spoken out, including about Mr Grant.

For the full story, see the latest edition of The Orcadian in shops and online.