11 April 2006 of Boyd's appointment to the House of Lords, his peerage nomination became a talking point in Scottish political circles. Opposition politicians stated that a peerage politicised the head of the judiciary. Boyd defended the appointment: I remain firmly committed to the full time role of Lord Advocate, leading the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and seeing through the programme of reform I initiated four years ago. Appointment to the House of Lords is a natural extension of my duties as Lord Advocate and a development which will allow me to represent Scotland's interests at home and at UK level. In December 2006, after Boyd had been replaced as Lord Advocate by Elish Angiolini, First Minister Jack McConnell was questioned by the Metropolitan Police about his nomination of Boyd for a peerage. McConnell said he was "disappointed" over what he regarded as a "normal and straightforward nomination" becoming caught up in Scotland Yard's cash for peerages investigation. Lockerbie trial Lord Boyd of Duncansby's role as Lord Advocate featured leading the prosecution in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial between May 2000 and January 2001. Of the two defendants, one – Fhimah – was acquitted and the other – Megrahi – was convicted on 31 January 2001 of 270 counts of murder, and sentenced to 27 years in jail. Controversy continues to surround Megrahi's conviction despite the rejection of his appeal on 14 March 2002. Evidence presented at the trial has been called into question and doubts have been expressed about the reliability of several key prosecution witnesses. According to The Sunday Times of 23 October 2005 former Lord Advocate, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, described one such witness as "not quite the full shilling" and "an apple short of a picnic". Boyd has demanded that Lord Fraser should issue a public statement clarifying what he actually said about this witness, and what he meant by those remarks. Fingerprint controversy In February 2006, Boyd was drawn into the detective constable Shirley McKie fingerprint controversy, when she was awarded £750,000 compensation in an out-of-court settlement. As Solicitor General, Boyd was responsible for the prosecution of DC McKie after she denied an accusation by Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) fingerprint officers that she left her thumb print at a murder scene in January 1997. McKie was arrested in March 1998, charged with perjury but at her trial in May 1999