Iain Hay Gordon, from Glasgow, was found “guilty but insane” over the murder of Patricia Curran in 1952.

Ms Curran, 19, was stabbed 37 times on the grounds of her own home in Whiteabbey, Co Antrim.

The Queen’s University student was the daughter of Sir Lancelot Curran, a High Court judge who would later become lord chief justice of Northern Ireland.

Mr Hay Gordon was a 20-year-old RAF national serviceman. He spent seven years in hospital before being released. His conviction was quashed in 2000 at the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal.

His file is one of more than 700 released at the Public Record Office in Belfast as part of the 30/20-year rule. Most files relate to the year 2002, though a number deal with earlier years.

On October 13, 1969, Mr Hay Gordon wrote to Mr Wilson.

The typed note states: “You will recall that I spoke to you for a few minutes as you were leaving the St Mungo Halls, Glasgow, on Friday evening and you suggested that I should write to you.

“On Saturday March 7th, 1953, I was found guilty but insane of the murder of Miss Patricia Curran, daughter of Mr Justice Curran which took place on 12th November 1952.”

He added: “I was released in August 1960 and since then, supported by my family and friends, I have been seeking a re-examination into this case.

“The Attorney General Mr Elwyn Jones, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Gardiner, Mr Tom Sergeant, Secretary of Justice, Mr Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the Liberal Party, and the distinguished psychiatrist Dr Desmond Curran have implicit faith in my innocence and there has been some recent correspondence on this matter between a Mrs Turtle and the Home Secretary Mr Callaghan and Lord Stonham.”

He continues: “To us this is a case of basic human justice and I feel that I cannot have any peace of mind unless my name is cleared.

“For this reason I am appealing to you.”

The Ministry of Home Affairs file also summarises the case under “The Curran Murder Case: Rough draft for a new summary of events.”

It states: “The only undisputed fact in this case is that Patricia Curran was stabbed to death 37 times sometime between 5.20pm on the 12th November 1952 when she was seen getting off a bus at Whiteabbey and 2am the following morning when her body was found in the grounds of her home.

“Who the murderer was, how, when and where the murder took place, and even the circumstances under which the body was actually found are all questions that seem to worry journalists, lawyers, doctors and, not least, the general public.

“It is remarkable that so much doubt should still exist 16 years after Iain Hay Gordon, the 20-year-old Scottish national serviceman stationed at the time in Whiteabbey, was found guilty but insane.”