The Lord Advocate today announced that she has decided to withdraw the Crown's appeal against the sentence of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.

Mr Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment with a punishment part of 27 years. The Crown appealed the punishment part as unduly lenient.

The Lord Advocate has now had the opportunity to consider reports regarding Mr Megrahi s medical condition and prognosis. Mr Megrahi is now terminally ill.

The Lord Advocate has taken account of the fact that he has now been released on compassionate grounds and is no longer in this country. Had he remained in custody, he would have had no prospect of serving the current punishment part of his sentence, let alone any increased sentence that the Lord Advocate was seeking.

That, together with his release, means that the outcome of any appeal could have no practical effect whatsoever for Mr Megrahi.