I thank the Lord Advocate for her full and helpful explanation of what is going on. It has reinforced my confidence in the ability and integrity of the prosecution service.

In her statement, the Lord Advocate said that some of the evidence that was collected in the case of the operation trinity murders is not available now. Those murders took place at about the same time as the murders of Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, yet abundant evidence has been retained relating to the World's End murders. Does she agree that the lack of evidence relating to the operation trinity murders has inhibited the prosecution case in this circumstance? Can she make any observations regarding the collection and preservation of evidence for future cases?