Case Reports

The trial of a man accused of historical child sex offences has collapsed after prosecutors included charges on the indictment for which they had “no supporting evidence”. A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh deserted the indictment simplicter after ruling that the Crown had created “oppress

A chef who was injured in a fall as he walked home from work late at night and sued his local authority after claiming the council was at fault for turning off the streetlights has had an action for £20,000 damages refused. The pursuer claimed that prior to the implementation of the cost-cutting po

A part-time judge who claimed that his pension should be calculated on the basis of his sitting days since he was appointed rather than the date on which an EU law protecting part-time-time workers from being treated less favourably than equivalent full-time workers came into force in the UK has had

A motorist who was jailed for six years and banned from driving for eight years after being found guilty of causing death of a “close friend” by dangerous driving has had an appeal against sentence refused. The Criminal Appeal Court dismissed claims that the period of imprisonment and the period

A father who left his baby daughter brain-damaged after shaking her and throwing her down on to a couch in a “deliberate and violent assault” has had his seven-and-a-half year prison sentence reduced following an appeal. The Criminal Appeal Court quashed the sentence and imposed a custodial term

A High Court judge has made a “gagging order” prohibiting the media from publishing details of the divorce proceedings between Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton. Mr Justice Mostyn continued a previously imposed reporting restriction order to prevent the press from reporting witness statements o

A motorist who was sued by the mother of a man he killed in a road traffic accident has been partially successful after appealing against the level of damages awarded to the woman. Martha Young, who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the fatal crash in which she later learned her son David had die

The legislative provision which makes it an “illegal practice” to make or publish false statements about any candidate during an election campaign can apply to “self-talking” as well as attacking another candidate, judges have ruled. Two judges in an Election Court petition brought by a numb

An “overstayer” who claimed that his removal from the UK to India would breach his human rights because he was engaged to a British woman has had a petition for judicial review dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused a challenge to a ruling that even if the petitioner was in such a re

A father-of-two who was jailed after being found guilty of abducting one of his sons has had an application for judicial review of decisions made by a Scottish local authority in respect of the children’s care refused. The basis of the petition was an allegation that the respondents had failed to

The owner of a hotel which was struck off the Companies Register and dissolved has failed in an appeal against a decision that its tenancy agreement with its landlord ended on its dissolution. Alan Love, the owner of Prestwick Hotels Limited (PHL), claimed that the lease with the landlords “contin

A law firm which was described as “shameless, corrupt, fraudulent, dishonest, unethical, incompetent and oppressive” has been awarded damages from the operators of a spin-off of the “Solicitors from Hell” website after a judge ruled that the comments were defamatory. London legal firm Brett

An investment manager who lost his right to share in future profits of funds he and other colleagues invested in after he left his company for a “competitor” has won a legal dispute after judges dismissed an appeal by his former employers. Richard Bishop was described as a “competing leaver”

The Criminal Appeal Court has “very strongly” suggested that consideration should be given to changing the rules on the instruction of solicitor advocates, in disposing of an appeal claiming “defective representation”. In refusing an appeal against conviction by Ahmad Yazdanparast, who was f

A disabled man who is seeking to end his own life but is “apprehensive” that anyone who assisted him to commit suicide would risk criminal prosecution has failed in a legal bid to force Scotland’s prosecution service to publish guidance on its policy. Gordon Ross, 66, who suffers from Parkinso