A SCOT who spent more than two decades on Death Row was on his way home today.

Kenny Richey was expected to arrive back in the UK after 21 years in an American prison.

The 43-year-old was freed from prison in Ohio on Monday after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors over an arson attack in which a two-year-old girl was killed.

Richey's return was delayed last night when his flight from Chicago to Heathrow was cancelled because of bad weather.

Today his solicitor Ken Parsigian said Richey had boarded a flight to Frankfurt in Germany.

He is then expected to catch a connecting flight to Edinburgh, arriving later today.

Richey was convicted in 1987 of an arson attack on a block of flats in an Ohio town in which two-year-old Cynthia Collins died.

But in August last year, after a lengthy court battle, the sentence was overturned.

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 was sentenced to a total of 21 years - time he had already served.

After his release, Richey thanked all those who "never doubted my innocence" and said he was looking forward to "going home to Scotland".

But he added: "It's been a long time coming."

Mr Parsigian said Richey's first few hours of freedom showed promise for a "smooth transition" to civilian life.

He said: "He got into civilian clothes for the first time, and he seemed to transform into a civilian. It was quite a smooth transition, I was surprised."

But there were dramatic scenes in court on Monday as Richey faced an angry reaction to his plea deal from relatives of the baby girl.

Cynthia's aunt told him to "burn in hell".

Pointing at Richey, less than 10ft away, Valerie Binklay said: "I want you to know you've fooled nobody no more. Nobody. You will burn in hell."

Fears have been raised about Richey's ability to adjust to the world after being locked away for 21 years.

The Scot left his mother's home in Edinburgh at 18 to live with his American father in Ohio.

But he is now emerging into a society that has changed radically in the two decades since he was last free.