Case Reports

A serial offender who was sentenced to an order for lifelong restriction (OLR) following his fourth High Court appearance has had an appeal against a judge’s decision to impose the OLR rejected. John McKinlay, 29, who has convictions for rape and domestic abuse and assaulting fellow prison inm

A bank employee who stole more than £50,000 from customers’ accounts has had his sentence reduced following an appeal. Rameez Hamid, who was sentenced to the three years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to embezzling some £51,000, argued that the custodial term was “

The estranged wife of former Rangers Football Club owner Sir David Murray has been granted a court order preventing a firm of solicitors acting for her husband in a divorce action. Kae Murray sought an interdict after a lawyer who acted for her when the couple signed a pre-nuptial agr

Three litigants who claimed that the introduction of a permission stage in judicial review procedure in Scotland was “incompatible” with human rights law because it meant that cases could be dismissed without an oral hearing have had their legal challenges dismissed. The three

A Northern Ireland woman has successfully appealed the decision of the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal to order a stay on her application for damages for the state’s failure to carry out a prompt investigation into the circumstances of her son’s death, in violation of Article 2 ECHR. Fi

A long-term prisoner who claimed that the prison authorities acted “unlawfully” in failing to properly progress his application for home detention curfew had his legal challenge dismissed, but the judge later conceded that he ought to have allowed the case to proceed to a full hearing. T

The High Court of Justiciary has published its reasons for rejecting an application for permission to appeal by a man found guilty of posting a “grossly offensive” video online showing a “Nazi dog”. Mark Meechan, who was fined £800 for breaching the Commu

A judge has dismissed an application by the father of the late James Bulger to amend a lifelong anonymity order protecting the identity of one of his son’s killers. Ralph Bulger wanted information about Jon Venables’ (JV) new identity to be made public after the murderer was jailed

An environmental campaign group which sought reduction of a decision by Aberdeen City Council to grant planning permission for the development of a new stadium for Aberdeen Football Club have had their legal challenge dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused a

The High Court of Justiciary has clarified the status of CCTV footage for the purposes of corroboration, confirming that where the only evidence of the crime libelled is the recorded footage and where its provenance is established, it can provide “sufficient evidence” of the &l

A private healthcare provider which sued a Scottish health board claiming it was “contractually obliged” to pay for a mental health patient’s continuing care at a hospital in England has had its case dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session upheld an argument by Hi

The Criminal Appeal Court has reiterated its warning to defence lawyers over the “derogatory and insulting” questioning of rape complainers and criticised a judge for “wholly inappropriate” comments made about the evidence of a witness during the course of a trial.

The widow of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has been granted a declaration that the state has failed to deliver an Article 2 compliant investigation into the death of her husband, who was shot and killed by loyalist paramilitaries in collusion with the UK security forces. In a unanimous jud

A former sheriff has been struck off the solicitors’ roll for a “catalogue of serious and reprehensible behaviour”. Hugh Neilson accepted that he was guilty of “professional misconduct” after a number of complaints from clients.

A widow whose husband died after being choked by a pub bouncer is entitled to an insurance payout after appeal judges dismissed an appeal by insurers of the door steward’s former employers. The Inner House of the Court of Session upheld a decision of the Lord Ordinary that an insuran