Case Reports

The Upper Tribunal for Scotland refused an appeal against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber), which had rejected the tenant’s claim after finding that he requested the arrangement.  ‘Pre-payment agreement’

A man found guilty of murdering his friend after causing him to fall down a flight of stairs and repeatedly kicking and stamping on his head and body has successfully appealed against his conviction. Ralph Goldie was convicted of killing Jeremy Paradine following a drunken fight in a flat he sh

A homeowner who sued his former lawyers after they failed to advise him to include a survivorship clause when transferring the title of his property into the joint names of himself and his then fiancée, who later died and left her half-share to her children from a previous relationship, has h

A property developer who claimed that a Scottish local authority’s decision to demolish a leisure centre was “unlawful” has had his legal challenge dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session refused a petition for judicial review by Mark Guild, who was seeking reduction of the deci

The High Court of Justiciary Appeal Court held that the concept of “art and part guilt” had “no part to play” in establishing the statutory offence under section 4(3)(b) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but ruled that the misdirections did not result in a misca

A Scots lawyer who became embroiled in a “tense and heated” exchange of emails with a former client in which the solicitor said “what would you expect from a pig but a grunt” has been found guilty of “professional misconduct”. Ross Porter, 56, was censured by the&

A student from Afghanistan who has lived in the UK for more than five years has had a legal challenge against a decision to refuse her application for indefinite leave to remain dismissed. The petitioner was seeking to continue her studies in aircraft engineering, but the Home Office rejected her ap

A man who was found guilty of breaking into a dead person’s home and stealing a quantity of jewellery after his DNA was found on a torch which was left in the property has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. Michael Ritchie claimed it was his brother who committed the crime and

A Scots lawyer who published a series of comments on social media referring to Orange Walks in “discriminatory, sectarian, derogatory, and offensive” terms has been fined £6,000. Solicitor advocate Simon Brown was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Scotti

A woman who sued her former partner for more than £40,000 following the sale of their jointly owned home, claiming that he had agreed not to take his share of the property if their relationship ended, has had her “unjustified enrichment” action rejected by appeal judges. A sheriff

The family of a woman who was killed in a road traffic accident have been granted a jury trial in a civil action against the motorist who was found guilty of causing her death by dangerous driving. The Inner House of the Court of Session allowed an appeal by relatives of the late Moira Tow

The Supreme Court has refused to accept an application from the Attorney General for Northern Ireland to refer what he said was a “devolution issue” under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Attorney General submitted that, by providing postcode lists to the Secretary of State, North

A prisoner who claimed that prison authorities breached his human rights by opening a letter addressed to him has had his petition for judicial review dismissed as “incompetent”. William McCulloch was seeking declarator that the opening of his correspondence was “incompatible&

A Scots lawyer who represented an elderly victim of a mortgage fraudster has been struck off the solicitors’ roll after being found guilty of “professional misconduct” over his failure to act his client’s best interests. Solicitor Alistair Bowie, 69, concluded missives w

A right-wing extremist convicted of downloading “sinister, violent and disturbing” terrorist material has had an appeal against his prison sentence dismissed. David Dudgeon was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, reduced from a period of three years, after pleading guilty to