Mitchell Skilling

The High Court of Justiciary has extended the custodial sentence of a man convicted of forcefully raping three previous partners after an appeal against the leniency of his original sentence by the Crown.  Respondent RM was convicted of three charges of rape against three complainers, each of w

The UK Supreme Court has ruled that a Scottish company director had acquired a securities option from his company as part of measures to financially rescue it and became subject to income tax after an appeal against an Inner House decision to the opposite effect was made by HM Revenue and Customs. V

An English judge has ruled that a mother who objected to her baby being given routine vaccinations on religious grounds could not have her local authority injuncted from giving him vaccinations while he was placed into care. UPP, the mother of the child, maintained it was not in his best interests t

A personal injury sheriff has refused a motion for expenses by a successful defender in a case covered by qualified one-way cost shifting after rejecting their argument that the pursuer’s conduct had been unreasonable. Defender Robert Mykytyn, who was granted decree of absolvitor in an action

The Supreme Court has ruled that a woman whose father died in a bomb explosion orchestrated by the IRA in 1988 could not challenge a decision by the Attorney General of Northern Ireland not to further investigate the death. It was the position of the AGNI that the Human Rights Act 1998 did not impos

A personal injury sheriff has found the expenses of a settled claim arising out of a road accident should be paid by the pursuer after he accepted a pre-litigation offer five days prior to a proof. Pursuer John Carty, who was involved in an accident in May 2021, had raised a claim against Churchill

A full bench of the High Court of Justiciary has confirmed that a witness testifying to the de recenti distress of a complainer is capable of corroborating direct evidence from a complainer that she has been raped. The reference arose from a case in which the respondent was charged with the assault

A Glasgow man who was jailed for 40 months after pleading guilty to assaulting his partner’s brother and causing considerable damage to vehicles with his van afterwards has had his cumulative sentence reduced by eight months on appeal to the High Court of Justiciary. Counsel for Alan James arg

A commercial judge has ruled that the joint administrators of two companies were in breach of good faith obligations under a deposit and exclusivity agreement it entered into with a company seeking to purchase an Aberdeen papermill from them. ATE Farms Ltd, which entered negotiations with the admini

The High Court of Justiciary has reduced the sentence of a man given a 37-month prison sentence for supplying a dangerous substance sold as an unlicensed weight loss supplement after he successfully argued that the sentence was excessive. It was argued by Jamie George, who sold the substance to pers

A commercial judge has dismissed an action against a former director of a Scottish football club suffering from financial difficulties after it raised an action seeking £148,000 from him on the ground of breach of fiduciary duty. Livingston FC Ltd claimed that Neil Hogarth had misappropriated

The High Court of Justiciary has acquitted a man given a community sentence for raping a 13-year-old girl in a park in Midlothian after an appeal was made challenging directions given to the trial jury. Counsel for appellant Sean Hogg argued that the trial judge had misdirected the jury as to the co

A Kilmarnock takeaway manager who sexually assaulted a 17-year-old employee at the end of her work shift has lost an appeal by stated case against his conviction. It was argued by appellant Bhupinder Singh, who was given 150 hours of unpaid work for the offence, that the sheriff erred in repelling a

The Sheriff Appeal Court has held that a Glasgow sheriff was correct to find that the term “hun” used in a footballing context was a sectarian remark capable of aggravating an offence by religious prejudice after an appeal against conviction by a Celtic supporter who used the term when a

An Aberdeen man who was banned from driving for 16 months following his expected release from prison in 2025 after driving dangerous at the Aberdeen beachfront has lost an appeal against his sentence before the Sheriff Appeal Court. Bradley Young, who was convicted of dangerous driving in and around