Accused Briton's death row ordeal

Kenny Richey: "You will never meet a more bitter or angry individual than me"

A Scot who has spent 18 years on death row in the US protesting his innocence said prosecutors "took from me what they can't give back".

Kenny Richey, 40, who was brought up in Edinburgh, has been told that he will be retried for killing a two-year-old child in Ohio in 1986.

The decision was announced by a prosecutor on Thursday.

Richey's conviction was overturned in April and prosecutors were given 90 days to release or retry him.

Born to a Scottish mother and American father, Richey grew up near Edinburgh Castle with his two brothers.

Richey's parents divorced in 1981 and he decided to start a new life in the US, moving to Detroit with his father.

You will never meet a more bitter or angry individual than me - they took from me what they can't give back Kenny Richey

Richey worked as a photographic salesman before moving to Minnesota, where he married and joined the US Marines.

Discharged in 1985 due to depression, and after his marriage failed, he returned to Columbus Grove in Ohio.

On the evening of 29 June, 1986, Richey went to a party to celebrate the fact he was about to return home and take up a job as a nightclub doorman.

He got drunk and later that night a fire broke out at a nearby apartment block.

The court was told Richey started the fire out of jealousy, in a bid to kill former girlfriend Candy Barchet who was asleep with her new boyfriend in the apartment below.

Smoke alarm

Two witnesses, who would later retract their statements, claimed they heard Richey say earlier that night he was going to burn down the building.

Prosecutors claimed the smoke alarm had been disconnected and that Richey had climbed on to a shed roof, over to a balcony and into the flat, carrying two heavy cans of petrol.

Two-year-old Cynthia Collins was trapped in her bedroom and died from smoke inhalation.

Karen Torley said Richey developed "a black sense of humour"

The next day Richey was arrested and charged with her murder. He was accused of using petrol and paint thinner to start the fire.

However, a fire expert concluded the blaze was accidental, possibly started by a burning sofa from a dropped match or cigarette - despite tests on the carpet showing no ignitable substances.

Since Richey's conviction, the campaign for his release has been spearheaded by fiancée, Karen Torley, who said he had used his "black Scottish humour" to get him through his time on death row.

The late Pope John Paul II, the European Parliament, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Amnesty International and Holywood actress Susan Sarandon have also called for his release.

Richey's lawyer, Ken Parsigian, said he was confident his client would be freed, adding that the state "hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of getting a conviction that is upheld beyond reasonable doubt any more".

But that view was not shared by prosecutor Gary Lammers, who said a retrial would prove the conviction was sound.

Never seen son

Ms Torley said Richey would often try and make light of his impending execution, joking that he would be getting some popcorn and speculating if the warden would hold his hand.

"It's a very black humour," she said.

"Very Scottish, but it's helped him get through."

Richey, who has never met his 19-year-old son Sean, said prosecutors had taken a large chunk of his life which was irreplaceable.

Speaking earlier this year, he said: "You will never meet a more bitter or angry individual than me.

"They took from me what they can't give back."