Inquiry bid over 'unsolved death'

The Court of Session will hear Ms Niven's plea for a public inquiry

A woman has gone to court in a bid to find out how her daughter died - nine years after a man convicted of her murder had his conviction quashed.

Ivy Niven wants a judicial review of a Crown Office decision not to hold a fatal accident or public inquiry.

Dorothy Niven, 33, was found dead at her home near Glasgow in June 1995.

Richard Karling, 54, was found guilty of drugging and smothering his ex-lover with a pillow. His conviction was quashed on appeal five years later.

Ms Niven and Mr Karling met in a Glasgow restaurant before she became ill.

He took her home in a taxi and maintained she was still alive when he left her house in Busby.

At his trial the Crown claimed that he had administered temazepam to Ms Niven before suffocating her.

Conviction overturned

In December 19995, a jury at the High Court in Glasgow found him guilty of murder.

During the subsequent appeal, serious disputes arose over evidence of the temazepam being in Ms Niven's body and over any asphyxiation.

A toxicology report from Guy's Hospital in London showed she did not have temazepam in her bloodstream.

Mr Karling served five years in prison before the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh decided he had been the victim of a miscarriage of justice and overturned the conviction.

He was subsequently awarded nearly £892,000 in compensation.

Ms Niven's family have since sought an explanation into her death and maintain that the direct causes are unclear.

The Crown Office told their solicitors last year that a fatal accident inquiry or public inquiry would not be held.

Ivy Niven has now gone to the Court of Session in Edinburgh for a judicial review of that decision.