Copfs

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has welcomed Liam Ewing KC, Lorraine Glancy KC, John Keenan KC and Paul Harvey to the principal Crown counsel team. The team is responsible for leading advocate deputes in the prosecution of serious crime. The four lawyers are joining as assistant principal Crown counse

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of Lachlan Robertson. Mr Robertson, 61, the owner and skipper of the fishing boat Reul A Chuain, a twin-rigged prawn trawler out of Mallaig, died on 24 June 2021 after falling ove

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has accepted a report into how domestic abuse is prosecuted, which has emphasised that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service must speed up the work it is doing to improve the service it gives to victims. The report assessed the work of COPFS in the management a

A man whose dog had to be put down after he abandoned it and left it inside a crate for several days has been imprisoned for six months and banned from owning or looking after animals for 10 years. Daryl Torrance, 34, of Mauchline, was sentenced at Ayr Sheriff Court after admitting a charge of anima

A charity has called for the adoption of coroners' courts in Scotland, claiming the Crown Office is failing to do its job. Faces and Voices of Recovery (Favor UK) wants Scotland to adopt the inquests system used elsewhere in the UK, in which a coroner examines the circumstances around sudden deaths.

An initiative to digitally transform how victims and witnesses in criminal cases can access information and guidance relevant to them online has been launched by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). COPFS has recently began piloting a Witness Gateway, an online secure solution. Th

The Crown Office has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Archie Donald. Three-year-old Archie died at the Royal Hospital for Children at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus, Glasgow on 20 November 2019.

Five members of a notorious serious organised crime gang who ran a massive drugs trafficking empire in Inverclyde have been jailed for a total of 31 years and eight months. Lee Docherty, 37, Ian Millar, 39, Brendan Gillan, 32, his father Daniel Gillan, 60, and Christopher McKellar, 44, pled guilty t

A man with links to serious organised crime has been jailed for eight years for running a drugs operation in Dundee. Aaron Bradford, 35, was sentenced at the High Court in Aberdeen after jurors convicted him of being concerned in the supply of Class A and Class B Drugs.

John Brownlee, a former teacher, inflicted sadistic cruelty on young boys at the Edinburgh Academy between 1967 and 1991. He has been found to have physically assaulted and emotionally abused children at the school. Brownlee, 89, had been deemed medically unfit to be criminally tried and did not att

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of baby Sophia Smith. Baby Sophia died at the Royal Hospital for Children at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus, Glasgow on 11 April 201

An American pilot who was found to be almost two-and-a-half times the alcohol limit as he prepared to take charge of a trans-Atlantic flight from Edinburgh to New York has been jailed for 10 months. Captain Lawrence Russell, 63, was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to repor

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has announced the appointment of Lisa Gillespie KC as deputy principal crown counsel. Ms Gillespie was admitted to the bar in 2005 and has been a full-time advocate depute since February 2014. She took silk in 2020. Ms Gillespie will support principal crown counsel Ashl

The Crown Office a first notice to begin the court process for a fatal accident inquiry into the death of 49-year-old Victoria Teresa Black. Ms Black died on 11 January 2022 at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert. Ms Black had been an inmate within HMP Cornton Vale, Stirling when she was adm

A father and son who, over a number of years, illegally possessed and sold wild peregrine falcon chicks for large sums of money, have been ordered to carry out periods of unpaid work. Both men are also prohibited from possessing or having under their control any bird of prey for a period of five yea