Former sheriff Alastair Duff admits making racist and sexual remarks during WebEx call

Alistair Duff

Alastair Duff, 69, was director of the Judicial Institute of Scotland until he resigned suddenly in late 2021. He admitted making the remarks at his home in Edinburgh during a WebEx meeting in October 2021.

He was fined £1,275 after pleading guilty during a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.

The comments were made during an online training course for justices of the peace. Some participants who returned early overheard Duff making the remarks. When he realised that his microphone was still on he was heard to use an expletive.

Two of the participants contacted the police.

A police investigation found that he had been speaking to a man in Leven who has since died. A search of the man’s computer revealed pornographic material of a man and woman dressed in school uniforms having sex.

Counsel for Duff, John Scullion KC, said the former advocate and sheriff’s career had “ended in ignominy”.

He said: “A reputation built over decades was destroyed in seconds. He had only himself to blame and the personal cost should not be underestimated.”

Sheriff Douglas Keir told Duff he had taken into account his “long and distinguished career” in what was a “troubling and anxious” case and accepted that there was no significant sexual element to the offence.

Duff admitted that he conducted himself in a disorderly manner by making sexual remarks and a racist one and by putting the other participants in a state of fear or alarm, and that he committed a breach of the peace.