Case Reports

Two men who were sentenced to varying periods of imprisonment for spitting at police officers during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic have had their sentenced reduced by the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary. Gordon Dewar and Barry McLean both pled guilty to assault

An Edinburgh pensioner who tripped over a ramp outside a supermarket has succeeded in obtaining over £11,000 in damages after a sheriff in the All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court found that the supermarket acted contrary to the Occupiers’ Liability (Scotland) Act 19

A publishing company that was defrauded of over £193,000 as a result of a “whaling” scam has unsuccessfully reclaimed against a decision that its former credit controller was not liable for damages arising from her mistaken payment of the funds to the fraudsters. The pursuers and r

A reclaiming motion by a campaigner for Scottish independence against a judge’s decision that his action seeking declarator that the Scottish Parliament could legislate for a second independence referendum without the consent of Westminster was premature and academic has been refused by the&nb

A sheriff in Dundee Sheriff Court has found that the dominant proprietor of a servitude right over castle grounds in Cupar did not have his rights interfered with by the installation of gates along a road he used to access his property and interdicted him from further damaging or removing them. Dona

A life prisoner who had progressed to community access in the parole process before being returned to closed conditions has failed to challenge a decision of the Parole Board for Scotland not to direct his release. Brian Hands, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with a punishment part

A woman who was convicted of fraudulently obtaining £55,000 in child tax credits and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment has had her appeal against the imposition of a custodial sentence refused by the Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary. It was argued by RA, who pled g

The brother of a deceased man who left the majority of his estate to his carer has failed to appeal a sheriff’s decision not to reduce the deceased’s last will in the Civil Division of the Sheriff Appeal Court. John Thompson, the pursuer and appellant, originally raised the action s

An appeal by the Advocate General for Scotland against a decision to allow a proof to determine that the detention of three fishing boats by immigration officers was ultra vires has been refused by the Civil Division of the Sheriff Appeal Court. The pursuer and respondent,&n

An insurer’s appeal that an exclusion clause in a policy applied in the context of a case in which a man was killed following an assault in Aberdeen has been unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court in a judgment that agrees with the Court of Session's. Lord Hamblen gave the sole judgment, w

Three former employees of a recruitment agency who had interim interdicts granted against them preventing them from working for a rival consultancy have, along with their new employer, been unsuccessful in their application for recall of the orders. The first to third defenders, Ross Macdougall

A landlord of commercial premises in Aberdeenshire whose former tenant refused to pay for the cost of work to the property at the end of their tenancy has successfully obtained a decree for payment from the Outer House of the Court of Session. Coal Pension Properties Ltd let the premises i

An owner of a converted stable house in Elie, Fife, whose parking rights over a neighbouring property were altered to allow a new home to be constructed has unsuccessfully challenged the variation in the Inner House of the Court of Session. Bridget Thomson, who used the property as a holiday ho

A Crown appeal against the sentencing of a man convicted of assaulting his ex-wife has succeeded before the Criminal Division of the Sheriff Appeal Court, which has imposed a community payback order in place of the original sentence. John Donnelly originally received a sentence of admoniti

A commercial judge in the Outer House of the Court of Session has allowed a proof in an action raised by a centuries-old Aberdeen society against five of its members to recover money said to have been wrongly paid to them. The Shore Porters’ Society of Aberdeen, as well as three members of its