Solicitor given dressing down by sheriff after failing to appear for third time in court

Mike Allan, a lawyer in Aberdeen, was summoned to Inverness Sheriff Courtby Sheriff Margaret Neilson on Friday, The Press and Journal reports.

However, facing possible contempt of court, Mr Allan apologised from the dock. He received a stern warning from Sheriff Neilson, who said: “Do not treat my court in such a cavalier fashion in future.”

Mr Allan was ordered to appear before the sheriff after failing to represent his client earlier in the week.

This was the third time Mr Allan was absent in the case involving Murdoch Fraser, 45, from Bucksburn.

He failed to appear the first time as a result of a road accident, he said, and the second time as a result of internal disagreement at his firm.

But Sheriff Neilson told him: “I have no interest in internal squabbles. You weren’t here when you were told to be.”

Mr Allan responded: “I apologise. I did not mean any disrespect.”

Leaving court, he said: “I apologised and I accept what the sheriff had to say.”

Mr Allan was fined £1,000 by the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal last year for bringing the profession into disrepute after he helped a banned firm continue to operate through his own company.