A top prosecutor has backed a change in the law after a grieving father wrote an exclusive piece for a daily newspaper.

The family of Shaun Woodburn, who died after being attacked on New Year’s Day 2017, have been campaigning to change legislation in Scotland which allows defence teams the legal right to instruct a second post-mortem on behalf of the accused.

The Woodburns want defence rights respected, but argue that a single post-mortem could be carried out provided there were representatives present from all interested parties – allowing bodies to be returned to grieving families sooner.

Now Lord Advocate James Wolffe, Scotland’s top prosecutor, has told defence and prosecution experts are being told to devise ways of creating “more effective consultation” to cut down on repeat post-mortems.

The announcement provided a splash for the Record yesterday.

Shaun, 30, died from massive head injuries after Mohammed Ibnomer punched him in an Edinburgh street on New Year’s Day 2018.

Ibnomer, who is currently serving four years in prison for culpable homicide, was named by the Glasgow-based Record for the first time earlier this month after he turned 18.

In an exclusive piece for the Record published days afterwards, Shaun’s father Kevin spoke of his reaction to being told a second post-mortem would be taking place on his son.

He wrote: “I was shattered. I never even imagined such a thing was possible. My mind wandered to these TV programmes were you see the pathologists in such graphic detail cutting people up and never once did I think about how their loved ones must have felt. I did now.

“I couldn’t get the thought out of my head – my beautiful boy as I had just left him being opened up, not once but twice, and all because some defence lawyer just wants to! How can this be right?

“Surely we live in the 21st century?! What I was being told was beyond barbaric, it was medieval, for Christ’s sake.”

Of the latest development, Record editor Murray Foote posted on Twitter: “Hopefully the admirably dignified Woodburn family can find some solace in this welcome examination of procedure.

“And fair play to the Government and Crown Office for listening to their coherent and heartfelt arguments.”