A senior policing boss has made a personal apology for botching a probe into a complaint by the family of ­murdered banker Alistair Wilson.

Chris Brown, head of the Scottish Police Authority, visited Mr Wilson’s widow Veronica and one of his sons in Nairn to apologise for its initial ­investigation into the grievance.

Mr Wilson, 30, was shot on the steps of his home in the Highland town in November 2004 while his wife and two young sons were inside, but the killer has not been caught.

The family had accused ­Deputy Chief Constable Bex Smith of misleading them over the arrest of a suspect – a ­complaint which was upheld by the SPA, the civilian oversight body for Police Scotland.

An initial probe had dismissed the complaint but the SPA had to carry out a fresh review after the involvement of the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) – and the second one upheld a complaint against Ms Smith.

It is understood that Ms Smith will face no further action beyond guidance from Chief Constable Jo Farrell, in light of the SPA inquiry.

A second complaint by Mr Wilson’s family against Ms ­Farrell is ongoing after they accused her of making a ­misleading public statement about the reinvestigation of the cold case killing.

The Mail was told Mr Brown believes he was well received by the Wilson family when he visited them this month ahead of the conclusion of the complaint inquiry against Ms Smith.

But the meeting highlights the tension between Mr Wilson’s relatives and police. One source close to the family said: ‘Bex Smith should be sacked and made an example of – and the same goes for Jo Farrell.’

Ms Smith gave false information to Mr Wilson’s widow and her son Andrew in September and October 2023 over the ­cancelled arrest of a suspect.

The suspect had been due to be arrested in May 2023, but the Crown Office called it off.

The family were told of the arrest at the time but claimed Ms Smith, then an Assistant Chief Constable, lied to them about it at the two meetings.

A probe was then launched by the SPA after a complaint was made by Gary Winter, a former detective inspector on the murder investigation team.

An SPA report initially rejected Mr Winter’s two complaints. But the PIRC found the SPA probe had fallen well short of ‘what would be considered a reasonable standard’.

A letter from the SPA said the two complaints against Ms Smith have been upheld.

An SPA spokesman said: ‘The authority does not comment on complaint or conduct matters.’

Ilya Zharov of the PIRC said: ‘We conducted a review, identified there were shortcomings in the Scottish Police Authority’s handling of these complaints and concluded they must be looked at again in full. We are aware the family has received a revised response from the SPA and are satisfied our direction has been carried out.’

Ilya Zharov, head of reviews and policy for the PIRC, said: 'Our role is to uphold public confidence in policing.

'We conducted a full and thorough review of this case, identified that there were shortcomings in the Scottish Police Authority’s handling of these complaints and concluded that they must be looked at again in full.

'We are aware that the family of Mr Wilson has now received a revised response from the SPA and are therefore satisfied that our direction has been carried out.'