Case Reports

Tommy Sheridan is entitled to interest on the £200,000 damages he was awarded following his successful defamation action against the publishers of the News of the World, at the judicial rate of 8% per year from the date of the jury’s verdict in 2006 until the principal sum was paid in 20

An absence of reasonable belief of consent, a key element of the statutory definition of rape, does not require to be proved by corroborated evidence and no direction on it is required unless it is a live issue at trial, the Criminal Appeal Court has ruled. The Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, s

Relatives of some of the victims of the Glasgow bin lorry crash who are suing Glasgow City Council for damages have been granted applications for their case against the local authority to proceed despite their claims being “time-barred”. A judge in the Court of Session&nbs

Community councils can be sued for damages for personal injuries, the Court of Session has ruled. A judge held that community councils, which had been created by parliament as distinct bodies with rights and duties to act in the public interest, were “hybrid bodies” which could be sued i

A man found guilty of attempting to kill a colleague following a post-work drinking session just days after they first met has had an appeal against his conviction rejected despite claiming he was acting in self-defence. Thomas Telford, who was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years’ imprisonment

A summary sheriff erred in ruling that a mother’s slap to the head of her four-year-old daughter was not likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health so as to constitute an offence under the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937. The Sheriff Appeal Court held that the sum

A woman found guilty of assaulting another woman to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement by repeatedly punching and kicking her on the head and body after the jury deleted from the libel the words “and strike her head against vivarium and repeatedly strike her on the body with glass&r

The Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin has published his reasons for refusing an application to participate in the fatal accident inquiry into the Clutha helicopter crash by the half-sister of the pilot who died in the disaster. Evelyn Mitchell argued that her involvement in the FAI would

A sole practitioner who failed to pay counsel for work done in relation to a number of cases has been struck off the solicitors’ roll. Jeremy Cram instructed three advocates but came up with various excuses to avoid paying them and then refused to engage with the Dean of Faculty and the Law So

A common law case brought by a woman who claims to have suffered “loss, injury and damage” as a result of medical treatment involving a vaginal mesh product will proceed to a full hearing despite the manufacturer’s attempts to have the action dismissed. A judge in the Court of Sess

A decision that a boy was not a “relevant person” for the purposes of attending a children’s hearing concerning his baby half-sister did not breach the older child’s human rights, appeal judges have ruled. The Inner House of the Court of Session upheld a sheriff&rsq

A Scots lawyer who overcharged clients by thousands of pounds, including one case which resulted in £116,000 compensation being paid out from the Law Society of Scotland’s client protection fund, has been struck off the roll of solicitors after being guilty of “professional miscond

A man who claimed he did not pose a “serious risk of harm to the public” after being given an extended sentence for possessing and distributing indecent images of children has had an appeal against a sheriff’s decision to impose an extension period dismissed. John Doherty, whose ca

An environmental campaigner who was seeking to challenge decisions of the UK and Scottish governments not to hold a public inquiry into undercover policing activities in Scotland following the so-called “spy-cops” scandal has had her application for judicial review dismissed. A judge in

A woman found guilty of running a brothel and escort business in Edinburgh who claimed she suffered a “miscarriage of justice” has failed in a legal challenge against a decision of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) to reject an application to refer her case