I'm innocent, says freed Scot

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The 43-year-old, who once came within an hour of execution, arrived in Britain this week after 21 years behind bars in a US prison.

He was released from jail in Ohio after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors over the arson attack in which two-year-old Cynthia Collins died.

In an interview with the The People newspaper Richey insisted: "I did not kill that little girl. I'm devastated she died but it wasn't my fault."

As he left the court in Ohio he faced an angry reaction to his plea deal from relatives of Cynthia. Pointing at Richey, Cynthia's aunt Valerie Binklay said: "I want you to know you've fooled nobody no more. Nobody. You will burn in hell."

But during the interview in an Edinburgh bar, Richey showed little sympathy for Cynthia's family. He told the paper: "Nothing can bring back that little girl but I've been rotting in my own hell for 21 years.

"I'm an innocent man so if Valerie Binklay and the rest of them want me to fry for something I never did, why should I feel sorry for them?"

He pleaded no contest on Monday to charges of attempted involuntary manslaughter, child endangering, and breaking and entering at the Putnam County Common Pleas Court in Ottawa, Ohio.

He had left his mother's home in Edinburgh at 18 to live with his American father in Ohio. But on Wednesday Richey arrived back in Edinburgh along with his brother Steven, 38, and went back to the home of his mother Eileen.

Richey said he wants to remarry ex-wife Wendy Amerud, 50, - who divorced him before the fire - and start a new life in Scotland with son Shaun, 22. He now hopes to be able to live a quiet life.