Scottish man faces retrial over murder allegation

An alleged murderer is to be retried on charges of killing his wife, the court of appeal in Edinburgh has ruled. Nat Fraser, a former fruit and vegetable trader from Elgin, was found guilty in 2003 of killing his wife Arlene 13 years ago, but had that conviction quashed after the UK supreme court found that evidence had been withheld from his trial. The London-based court said the conviction was unsafe, and returned Fraser's case to the court of appeal last month – giving Scottish judges the option of entirely quashing Fraser's conviction and setting him free, or ordering a fresh trial. The supreme court's jurisdiction has been attacked by Alex Salmond, the first minister, and his justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, who claimed the supreme court was interfering with Scotland's independent legal system. The court of appeal in Edinburgh, headed by Lord Hamilton, the lord justice general, formally set aside Fraser's original conviction on Friday afternoon and, after refusing bail and remanding him in custody, agreed to a prosecution application for a fresh trial. Arlene Fraser's body has never been found. Fraser, 52, has consistently said he was not guilty of her murder. Fraser appealed in 2006 but his case was thrown out by the court of appeal, who ruled his conviction was safe. The supreme court, led by its deputy head and a former lord justice general of Scotland, Lord Hope, said Fraser's original conviction was made unsafe because the prosecution had failed to disclose significant evidence.