Case Reports

A Scots lawyer convicted of embezzling more than £20,000 of clients’ money has been struck off the solicitors’ roll by the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT). Paul O'Donnell, of Glasgow, pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in April 2016 to em

A Scottish local authority which entered into missives for the sale of land to a property developer and subsequently granted planning permission for the redevelopment of the site was not entitled to rescind the contract on the basis that the appropriate fee had not been paid when the planning applic

A man found guilty of rape who claimed that the evidence of the complainer’s distress, which was exhibited more than a day after the incident, was “too remote” to corroborate her account of lack of consent because she did not show any signs of distress in the intervening period has

A teenager who was sentenced to 18 months’ detention after being convicted of assault has had his custodial sentence quashed following an appeal. The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court imposed a community payback order (CPO) after ruling that the sheriff erred in his approach to s

A woman who was injured in a road traffic accident when a car she was travelling in was struck by a police van is suing Police Scotland for damages. Anji Mannas claims that although the physical injuries she sustained were “modest”, she suffered “severe and continuing psy

A pursuer’s offer cannot be lodged and given effect to in the Inner House of the Court of Session, appeal judges have ruled. The First Division held that, while the chapter 34A of the Rules of the Court of Session did not expressly exclude pursuers’ offers, the language of the rules

A former SNP councillor has been awarded £40,000 in damages after raising a defamation action against a party activist who falsely accused her of racism. Julie McAnulty sued Sheena McCulloch over the content of an email sent to the party compliance manager, in which it was alleg

The owners of a tug boat who sued the Ministry of Defence for “negligence” after the vessel sank having been attached to an MoD buoy have had the damages claim dismissed and been ordered to pay the more than £400,000 for the cost of the clean-up operation. Stuart White,72

A man found guilty of attacking another man with a meat cleaver, who claimed that a sheriff was wrong to allow CCTV footage to be introduced as evidence after its existence only became apparent during the trial, has had an appeal against his conviction refused. Jamie Hyslop argued that the material

A woman who challenged a confiscation order imposed after her brother was convicted of drugs offences in an attempt to prevent the sale of a property in Edinburgh of which she claimed to be the “beneficial owner” has had her appeal rejected. The Inner House of the Court of Session&n

Section 17 of the Scottish ‘Brexit Bill’ – which requires Scottish Ministers’ consent to certain subordinate legislation – is ultra vires of the Scotland Act, which it would modify, though the bill is not entirely outwith the Scottish Parliament's legislative competence

A Scot wanted by the FBI over an alleged shares scam has successfully challenged a decision by the UK Government to delay the introduction of a possible defence to his extradition to the USA. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the UK Government was acting “unlawfull

Tommy Sheridan is entitled to interest on the £200,000 damages he was awarded following his successful defamation action against the publishers of the News of the World, at the judicial rate of 8% per year from the date of the jury’s verdict in 2006 until the principal sum was paid in 20

An absence of reasonable belief of consent, a key element of the statutory definition of rape, does not require to be proved by corroborated evidence and no direction on it is required unless it is a live issue at trial, the Criminal Appeal Court has ruled. The Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, s

Relatives of some of the victims of the Glasgow bin lorry crash who are suing Glasgow City Council for damages have been granted applications for their case against the local authority to proceed despite their claims being “time-barred”. A judge in the Court of Session&nbs