Death-row Scot in last-ditch plea to save his life

In his letter, Richey states he is innocent of the crime, and adds: "I am eager that, as a result of the change in government, there can now be some movement on my case, at the very least so that I can have some direction of where my life is going.

"I am hoping that as a new governor of Ohio you will perhaps consider my personal appeal to you."

Despite powerful evidence of innocence, the pro-death penalty Republican government in the state had refused to back down from its position that Richey is guilty and should be executed.

In January 2005 the Scot's sentence and conviction was overturned, but later that year the decision was reversed on a technicality by the Supreme Court after a challenge by the state.

The latest hearing is scheduled for January at the 6th Circuit Federal Court of Appeal. However, the legal avenues have almost all been exhausted and Richey is in poor health.

Speaking from his Ohio jail cell, Richey said: "I am wasting my life in prison as a result of a court technicality and I am pleading with the US government to help me now."

Richey, 42 and raised in Edinburgh, was sentenced to death in 1987 after being found guilty of murdering toddler Cynthia Collins. He was accused of setting fire to a flat as his ex-girlfriend was asleep with another man in the flat below.

During the trial, which lasted three days, Richey twice rejected plea-bargain deals that would have spared his life had he admitted starting the fire.

New forensic evidence has now called into question Richey's involvement and even whether the fire was started deliberately.

Human rights group Amnesty International has described the case as "one of the most compelling cases of innocence" it has seen. High-profile figures, including Robbie Coltrane, Susan Sarandon and former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey , have called for his release.

Margo MacDonald, the independent MSP and a long-standing campaigner for Richey, said she had written to Strickland last week to ask him to intervene. She said: "There has always been the strongest suspicion that Kenny Richey's case has been bedevilled by the politics of Ohio. I would hope the political change might indicate a fresh perspective on the case."

Alistair Carmichael, LibDem MP for Orkney and Shetland and another supporter of Richey, said he hoped the Scot would be freed.

Eileen Richey, his mother, added: "I just hope this new governor can help him to come back home to Edinburgh."

Governor-elect Strickland was last night unavailable for comment.

12 November 2006