Case Reports

of or fear of future violence would not constitute a reasonable excuse. However matters would be different where a person took possession of a weapon during an incident where he or she was under attack, for the purpose of preventing or discouraging further violence. “It was pointed out to us that

A French comedian who appealed against his conviction for making public insults against Jews has had his application to the European Court of Human Rights declared inadmissible on the basis it was not protected by his article 10 right to freedom of expression and was instead anti-Semitism and Holoca

A man found guilty of a statutory breach of the peace for encouraging the rape of children on an adult chatline has failed in an appeal against conviction. Judges in the Criminal Appeal Court refused the appellant’s claim that his behaviour in the particular circumstances was “reasonable”, des

The liquidator of a multi-million pound hedge fund who sued the company’s solicitors alleging that the firm “breached its fiduciary duties” to its client has had an action for payment of £7.3 million dismissed. A judge in the Court of Session ruled that while the pursuer had made a relevant c

A man accused of historic child sex offences who challenged a sheriff’s “unique” decision to grant an application by prosecutors for an extension of time to bring him to trial more than seven years after his first appearance in court has had his appeal refused. The appellant, who first appeare

A mother whose baby was left with a permanent disability as a result of the way he was delivered by midwifery staff has been awarded £725,000 damages. The woman, who has not been named, raised an action against Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust following the birth of her second child at Law Hos

Two “predatory paedophiles” sentenced to life imprisonment for murder who claimed the prison service denied them the opportunity to visit each other in jail have failed in a claim for damages. A judge in the Court of Session rejected the gay couple’s petition for judicial review, in which they

A disgraced Scots lawyer who was jailed after embezzling more than £400,000 from a deceased person’s estate has been struck off the solicitors’ roll. Michael Karus, who was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to misappropriating £413,052 while acting as th

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