Case Reports

A juror who was found in contempt of court after using social media to check the identity of a witness has failed in an appeal against a sheriff’s decision. Elizabeth Howden accessed Facebook to check a friend’s profile only to confirm whether the witness was her friend’s brother, but her peti

A woman jailed for assaulting a deaf pensioner for whom she had previously performed “sexual favours” has had her conviction quashed because the complainer knew the sign language interpreter at her trial. The Criminal Appeal Court ruled that a “miscarriage of justice” had occurred after the

A man who secretly took a screenshot of a photograph of a woman’s private parts from her mobile phone and sent it to a third party has had an appeal to be taken off the sex offenders register refused. Aidan McHugh, 21, who pled guilty to a statutory breach of the peace charge, became subject to th

A man who challenged the admission in evidence of material that revealed his membership of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and meant he was convicted of being a member of a proscribed organisation has failed in his appeal to the UK Supreme Court that the material should have been excluded at trial.

A Scottish legal firm has successfully challenged a decision of an arbiter to make an award in favour of a former partner who raised an action against his ex-colleagues following resignation from the partnership. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the arbiter acted “ultra vires” and “c

A man who was left paralysed following a road traffic accident in which he struck by a car outside a hotel is to be awarded damages after the driver admitted liability. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that the driver of the vehicle, who was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and banned from

A convicted murder who was removed from general association with other prisoners was segregated “unlawfully”, the UK Supreme Court has ruled. Five justices unanimously allowed an appeal by Imran Shahid, who was convicted in 2006 along with two co-accused of the racially-aggravated abduction and

The trial of a man accused of historical child sex offences has collapsed after prosecutors included charges on the indictment for which they had “no supporting evidence”. A judge at the High Court in Edinburgh deserted the indictment simplicter after ruling that the Crown had created “oppress

A chef who was injured in a fall as he walked home from work late at night and sued his local authority after claiming the council was at fault for turning off the streetlights has had an action for £20,000 damages refused. The pursuer claimed that prior to the implementation of the cost-cutting po

A part-time judge who claimed that his pension should be calculated on the basis of his sitting days since he was appointed rather than the date on which an EU law protecting part-time-time workers from being treated less favourably than equivalent full-time workers came into force in the UK has had

A motorist who was jailed for six years and banned from driving for eight years after being found guilty of causing death of a “close friend” by dangerous driving has had an appeal against sentence refused. The Criminal Appeal Court dismissed claims that the period of imprisonment and the period

A father who left his baby daughter brain-damaged after shaking her and throwing her down on to a couch in a “deliberate and violent assault” has had his seven-and-a-half year prison sentence reduced following an appeal. The Criminal Appeal Court quashed the sentence and imposed a custodial term

A High Court judge has made a “gagging order” prohibiting the media from publishing details of the divorce proceedings between Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton. Mr Justice Mostyn continued a previously imposed reporting restriction order to prevent the press from reporting witness statements o

A motorist who was sued by the mother of a man he killed in a road traffic accident has been partially successful after appealing against the level of damages awarded to the woman. Martha Young, who witnessed the immediate aftermath of the fatal crash in which she later learned her son David had die

The legislative provision which makes it an “illegal practice” to make or publish false statements about any candidate during an election campaign can apply to “self-talking” as well as attacking another candidate, judges have ruled. Two judges in an Election Court petition brought by a numb