Mitchell Skilling

A lord ordinary has ruled that an action by Scottish Gas Networks Plc in which it sought £3 million from the insurers of a quarrying company whose operations forced the costly diversion of a gas pipeline was sufficiently relevant to proceed to probation. The pursuer’s action against QBE

The High Court of Justiciary has imposed an Order for Lifelong Restriction on a man who took a knife into hospital and told staff he wanted to kill people after he made an appeal against his sentence, having decided that he could meet the risk criteria under section 210E of the Criminal Procedure (S

The Supreme Court has found that the insurers of a van driver who negligently collided with a woman in a car she had hired while her own car was in for repairs were required to pay her the amount that she had to pay the hire car company to compensate them for the time the vehicle was not in use. The

A commercial judge has held that a structural engineer hired for an Edinburgh building project could not be compelled to execute and deliver a collateral warranty in favour of the landowner over five years after the conclusion of a contract between the engineer and the project’s contractor in

An appeal by a police officer who was arrested and charged with wilful neglect of duty after arresting someone without due cause and remanding him into custody for four days has been dismissed by the Sheriff Appeal Court after it found that the police had not acted unlawfully in detaining him. Appel

The Sheriff Appeal Court has allowed an appeal in an action for count, reckoning and payment by the son and beneficiary of a deceased farmer who claimed that his brother, the deceased’s executor nominate and sole remaining trustee of his estate, had improperly made deductions from his share of

A community interest company set up to protect the interests of Scottish wildcats has had a petition seeking to reduce a grant of consent for a windfarm to be built in or near a known wildcat habitat refused. The Scottish ministers granted consent for Vattenfall Wind Power Ltd to build and operate a

An employment judge has struck out a claim of unlawful dismissal based on age and disability discrimination by a man who was dismissed after he produced a knife during a meeting with his manager and mimed stabbing himself. Edinburgh Napier University had sought dismissal of the claim on the basis th

An Edinburgh sheriff has ruled that the former solicitor of a widow’s late husband who had been renting out a flat the couple owned without her knowledge was required to pay £14,4000 in rent payments from 2007 to 2009, plus over £17,000 in interest, after she raised an action for c

The High Court of Justiciary has found that the conduct of a Scottish League Cup final attendee who was charged with a breach of the peace by shouting the word “hun” at a police officer was not aggravated by religious prejudice but refused to alter the sentence given as a result. David D

A doctor who had the suspension of his registration extended while awaiting trial for offences under anti-terrorism legislation has lost an appeal against a lord ordinary’s decision to approve that extension. Reclaimer IB, who was said to be facing criminal proceedings that would likely not co

A woman charged with drug offences after being stopped on the A9 with drugs in her car has lost a preliminary appeal under section 74(1) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 arguing that she had been unlawfully detained. Carol McCrone sought to argue that the uniformed officers who pulled h

The Inner House of the Court of Session has allowed an appeal by a consumer who sought to return a vehicle with a defective diesel filter even though he continued to use it after rejection of the goods and determined that he was not barred from insisting on a refund. Pursuer and appellant Alan King

A man who attacked his friend with a bat and a knife and left him with multiple puncture wounds and a laceration to his head has lost an appeal against his conviction in the High Court of Justiciary. John Brown was given an extended sentence with a custodial term of five years and a two-year extensi

A life prisoner seeking a First Grant of Temporary Release as part of securing later release from custody on licence has lost a petition for judicial review challenging the way in which the grants were made by the Scottish ministers. Petitioner Gordon Burns, who had been serving a discretionary life