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A HEARTBROKEN mum has spoken out after we revealed her son’s murder is one of more than 500 where no one has been brought to justice.

John Rogers, 12, was beaten to death in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, in 1996 but his alleged killer walked free due to police and Crown Office blunders.

His mum Linda was last week shocked to discover that her son’s death is among the 500-plus murders classified as unresolved in the old Strathclyde Police area.

She said: “The number is massive. It’s incredible that there are 500 other families going through this, I’m not the only one.

“These cases are often all over the news when they happen but they quickly fall through the gaps and become forgotten about.”

Suspect Peter Quigley, 59, made a taped confession to police and was arrested and charged with John’s murder.

But his trial collapsed as he should have been accompanied by an adult during the police interview as he has learning difficulties.

Linda said: “From that police interview right up to the trial, not one person in the police or the Crown Office picked up on this mistake.

“The Crown Office should have seen the legal problem and should have held back because of it. They were supposed to be my son’s representative, to speak for him.

“It seems to be a case of, ‘Thank you very much for your son’s life but you can go home now’ even though they messed the case up.

“The police have never been transparent. It’s been 17 years. I’ve been down every single road and I’ve got nowhere.

“I’ve had doors slammed in my face. No one wants to touch it. My family and my son have had no justice.

“As far as the police are concerned, the case is open but we feel it’s been shoved in a drawer.”

In 2010, the former Strathclyde force said they had 53 unsolved murders on their books.

But a Sunday Mail investigation last week revealed that the true number of killings for which no one has been convicted is more than 500, dating back to 1942.

Police Scotland would not give the names of victims because they claimed it could cause distress to relatives.

And the Crown Office refused to disclose how many unresolved murders are on their database covering all of Scotland.

(Image: Charles Donnelly/Daily Record)

Linda added: “While some victims’ families may not want to re-open old wounds, I don’t see how that can be detrimental to families of victims. If anything, they’ve been banging their heads against a brick wall for years getting nowhere.

“They would surely appreciate every effort made to achieve a sense of fairness and justice for their lost loved ones.

“The system is all for the criminals and the accused – the victims are just nothing.

“I’ve been ignored all these years. All cases where there’s not been a conviction should be left open.

“The police should be actively and consistently seeking to get them resolved alongside keeping families up to date on all their efforts to do so.”

The Crown Office said: “There is a risk of prejudicing fresh prosecutions by commenting on individual cases or providing details on how a case is being dealt with.

“It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

FORMER TOP COP: Families have right to answers

FORMER police chief Graeme Pearson is to ask the Crown Office to come clean about the total of unresolved murders.

The Labour MSP will ask them to disclose how many murder victims and their families are still waiting for

justice across Scotland.

Last week, the Crown refused to reveal the total figure for Scotland after we discovered more than 500 murders were classed as unresolved in the former Strathclyde force area.

Pearson said: “Given the public interest, I will make contact to see if they will release the numbers of these cases that they have on file.

“My guess would be that the 500 plus for the former Strathclyde force area will account for the majority.

“I would be surprised if the total figure for Scotland was much higher but people have a right to know.”

All unresolved murders in Scotland are stored on a cold case database.

They include all cases where no one has been convicted of the killing.