The father of a murdered teenager has urged Nicola Sturgeon to intervene to reform laws he believes denied her justice.

Amanda Duffy's father Joe has called on the First Minister to review the not proven verdict in Scots law as well as the current double jeopardy legislation.

Ms Duffy's body was found on waste ground in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, in May 1992.

Francis Auld, who died earlier this month, stood trial at the High Court in Glasgow that year for the murder of the 19-year-old drama student and was acquitted by a jury on a not proven verdict.

In 2016 a bid to retry him using double jeopardy laws was rejected by the Appeal Court in Edinburgh.

Mr Duffy believes his daughter was denied justice and has criticised the handling of the case by the Crown Office, writing to the Lord Advocate to set out the family's concerns.

He is now writing to Justice Secretary Michael Matheson and MSPs calling for their support for legal reform.

Urging Ms Sturgeon to step in, he told the Daily Record: "Her support could help to finally change this dreadful problem in our legal system.

"Everyone is supportive of our primary aim of abolishing the not proven verdict that allowed Amanda's killer to walk free. It and double jeopardy laws brought in recently both need to be looked at.

"The first needs to be scrapped and the second overhauled so it helps people denied justice the first time around. At present, double jeopardy legislation is too vague and confusing in what it allows to be heard as new evidence."

The Scottish Government said it was unable to comment on individual cases.

A spokesman said: "One of the recommendations of Lord Bonomy's post corroboration safeguards review was that research into jury reasoning and decision making should be undertaken to ensure that changes to the jury system are only made on a fully informed basis. This includes the 'three verdict' system.

"We have committed to taking forward this jury research, which is currently subject to a formal procurement process and once started is expected to take two years to complete."

A Crown Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that a letter has been received from the family of Amanda Duffy.

"The Lord Advocate will give careful consideration to their letter before providing a full response."