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A conspiracy theorist who accused the government of setting forest fires to make people believe in climate change has admitted setting more than a dozen forest fires. Brian Paré, 38, forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes and destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest by setting the

There were 14,700 community payback orders (CPOs) commenced in 2022-23. This was 20 per cent higher than in 2021-22 but was the third lowest in the last decade, according to figures from Scotland's chief statistician. From 2013-14 to 2019-20, the annual number of orders commenced ranged from 16,500

The UK government plans to redeploy 150 judges in order to fast-track appeals by asylum seekers against deportation to Rwanda, according to reports. The proposed Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will allow the controversial scheme – under which asylum seekers arriving in the UK w

Home Secretary James Cleverly has laid a draft order before Parliament to proscribe the international Sunni Islamist political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir under the Terrorism Act 2000. If agreed by Parliament, the order will come into force on 19 January 2024. This means that belonging to, inviting

PBW Law has appointed new solicitor Regan Wallace to join its growing team. Mr Wallace holds an LLB from the University of Dundee and obtained his diploma from the University of Strathclyde.

A taxpayer-funded green scheme to replace a Crown Office boiler has been branded "absurd" after it emerged it would take almost a millennium for the costs to be recouped. The price of decarbonising Elgin’s Procurator Fiscal office has risen to £3.5 million.

Blanket bans on guns in post offices are incompatible with the US Constitution, a federal judge has ruled. Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, who was controversially nominated by President Trump as a judge for life at the age of just 33, said a "blanket restriction on firearms possession in post offices

The UK government has been urged to reconsider its position on parental leave rights. Minister for 'keeping the promise', Natalie Don, has written to the UK government calling for statutory parental leave rights to be extended to kinship carers.

Aberdein Considine has expanded its wealth management operation, AC Wealth, with the appointment of Ross Leckridge as a chartered financial planner to the firm's newly established Edinburgh division of its financial planning team. Mr Leckridge, a fellow of the Personal Finance Society, brings more t

It is “incumbent” on Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC to answer questions on the Post Office Horizon scandal, the SNP's Westminster leader has said. Stephen Flynn said that Ms Bain should explain why prosecutions occurred after concerns over the Horizon system emerged in 2013.

Brodies LLP in partnership with Edinburgh Law School presents Planning and the climate and nature crises: delivering National Planning Framework 4 – a talk with Fiona Simpson. This lecture will reflect on the evolution of national spatial planning in Scotland, including the significant shift i

Former advocate Mark Strachan, 64, has been jailed for two years after being convicted of sexually abusing two boys. He carried out his abuse 20 years ago when he was lawyer to the boys' family. He touched them sexually in 1999 and 2001 at addresses in Aberdeen. A jury found him guilty by a majority

A date has been set for the appeal of three subpostmasters over the Horizon scandal. Rab Thomson, Ravinder Naga and Aleid Kloosterhuis are hoping to have their convictions quashed after they were prosecuted for fraud.

A sheriff has been removed from a fatal accident inquiry over extreme delays in publishing her findings. On June 29 2014, Warren Fenty, 20, suffered a drug overdose and died while in Kittybrewster jail.

Blackadders LLP has reported increased turnover and profit in its latest accounts. The firm's turnover for 2022/23 was £16.7 million, including Blackadders Wealth Management LLP. Profits stood at £4.23m.