Case Reports

A man who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for selling so-called “legal highs” has had his sentence reduced following an appeal. Liston Pacitti and his co-accused Paul Brocklehurst both pled guilty to “culpable and reckless conduct” by supplying quantities of new psy

An appeal by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions over a detail of a personal independence payment (PIP) claim has succeeded as justices in the Supreme Court overturned a judgment of the Inner House of the Court of Session. This appeal concerns the assessment of claimants for PIP, a non

A man found guilty of assault with a knife who claimed he suffered a “miscarriage of justice” after it emerged that a juror had “googled” his name and discovered a previous conviction for assault has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. Gary Goddard argued that

A Hibernian fan who was jailed for confronting Rangers captain James Tavernier during a match has failed in an appeal to have his custodial term quashed. Cameron Mack, 22, who was sentenced to 100 days’ imprisonment in April 2019 after pleading guilty to a charge of breach of the peace, claime

A Vietnamese man who was jailed for three years after admitting being involved in a cannabis growing operation has had an appeal against his sentence rejected. Trung Dung Le claimed he was a victim of human trafficking who had been forced to commit the offences, but the Appeal Court of the

Two teenagers convicted of murder have had the punishments parts of their life sentences reduced following an appeal. Daniel Kinlan and Darren Boland, who were sentenced to detention for life with punishment parts of 10 years and nine months and nine years and 11 months respectively for th

A police officer found guilty of sexual offences whose application to retire on the grounds of permanent disablement was refused by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has had a legal challenge against the decision dismissed. The officer raised judicial review proceedings after the SPA dec

A man accused of sexual offences against his daughter has successfully challenged an attempt by prosecutors to rely on his admissions to a children’s hearing as evidence to corroborate the charges in the criminal proceedings against him. In the first case of its kind, a High Court ju

A sheriff’s decision not to impose a custodial sentence on a father-of-three who was convicted of “significant and serious” domestic abuse offences after repeatedly assaulting his wife and two daughters over several years was not “unduly lenient”, appeal judges have rul

A man who pled guilty to being concerned in the supplying of cocaine after providing a “safe house” for a friend has successfully appealed against a sheriff’s decision to impose a custodial sentence. James Houten was sentenced to 23 months’ imprisonment after admitt

A former member of the armed forces found guilty of the rape of two ex-partners has had an appeal against his sentence dismissed. John Falconer, who was convicted of three charges of rape and sentenced to eight years with an extension period of three years, claimed that the sentence imposed was &ldq

A Singapore-based banker who raised an action for damages in Scotland following a refusal by the Court of Appeal in London to refer a question of EU law to the European Court of Justice, after his claim for unfair dismissal in the UK employment tribunal was rejected on the grounds that the tribunal

Two cyclists who fell from their bikes while crossing tram tracks in Edinburgh have been awarded undisclosed damages. Elizabeth Fairley and Ian Lowdean sued Edinburgh Trams Limited, Transport Initiatives Edinburgh and Edinburgh City Council after being injured in f

A Scots lawyer who delayed administering the estate of a deceased client of his firm after having failed to make proper attempts to contact the beneficiary has been fined £5,000. Gary Pirrie, 50, was found guilty of “professional misconduct” by the Scottish Solicitors’ D

There is a right of privacy in the common law of Scotland, a Court of Session judge has ruled. The court held for the first time that the common law right exists in Scots law, and that its nature and scope is similar to that protected under article 8 of the European Convention on Huma