Law Society of Scotland failed to tell Crown Office of theft evidence. CROWN OFFICE OFFICIALS have admitted the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal failed to inform them, and the Police, of alleged criminal activity after solicitor Catriona Macfarlane, based at Glasgow law firm Hasties, was found guilty by the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) in early November 2009 of covering up a £24,000 client theft by her own husband, a mortgage broker.
Solicitors Tribunal found solicitor guilty of covering up a theft, but didn’t tell Police or Crown Office. To-date, no criminal charges have been brought in this case, and many are now questioning why there has been no Police investigation over the highly detailed findings published by the Law Society and the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT), which stated that Catriona Macfarlane’s actions had left her client in a vulnerable position and left them exposed to an unacceptable risk after it had been revealed she covered up her own husband's theft of £24,150 from a client who had approached Mrs Macfarlane to act for him in a house purchase deal.
You can read my earlier report on this case, here : Glasgow lawyer who covered up husband's £24k client theft gets slap on the wrist by Law Society tribunal, continues working and the SSDT’s verdict availabe for download in pdf, here: Law Society v Catriona Margaret Macfarlane
Crown Office were reluctant to release statement on lack of prosecution. Initially the Crown Office delayed responding to media enquiries, and then put off giving any statement on the affair after Crown Office officials delayed media reaction by re-categorising any enquiries as Freedom of Information requests, which can take up to 20 days or more to generate a reply. The Crown Office only issued a statement on the affair after Scotland’s FOI Commissioner Kevin Dunion had been informed of the misuse of FOI legislation to delay a COPFS statement on a potential criminal investigation.
A spokesman for the Crown Office was eventually forced to admit : “I can confirm that we have not received a criminal report in connection with either Nigel MacFarlane or Catriona MacFarlane in relation to the incident.”
Law Complaints Chief Philip Yelland did not report investigation’s theft details to Police. This stark admission by the Crown Office that it had not been alerted to the case has raised growing questions over why the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal did not contact the Police & Crown Office over the events which had been revealed in their own investigation, and has left many questioning why the Law Society’s Director of Regulation, Mr Philip Yelland, notorious for being involved in many ‘controversial’ Law Society complaints investigations also did nothing, despite his own public claims that solicitors engaging in such activity have been struck off in the past … although not always reported to the Police as they should have been …
Law Society’s Director of Regulation Philip Yelland claimed lawyers are struck off for bad conduct but evidence shows otherwise.
A senior legal insider today alleged the Crown Office was reluctant to prosecute members of the legal profession for criminal activity, and went onto accuse the Law Society of Scotland of routinely covering up criminal activity of its members it had detected in the course of investigating complaints against solicitors.
He said : “The Law Society of Scotland have to look at nearly 5000 complaints a year against solicitors and a good percentage of those relate to theft of a client’s funds, misappropriation of titles, fraud, and other activities which fall into the realms of criminal law. Not once however, do the Law Society turn over any details of criminal activity they uncover during the course of their investigations to the Police or the Crown Office, or even the Scottish Legal Aid Board, so effectively we have the body responsible for regulating solicitors in Scotland failing to pass on evidence of criminal actions to the proper authorities for a criminal investigation.”
He continued : “I would also have to question whether the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has, after one year of operation, passed on the details of any possible criminal activity on the part of solicitors it has detected, to the Police or Crown Office ?”
After enquiries made today, a source close to the SLCC confirmed that no cases had been passed by the SLCC onto the Police as of yet – which is odd, considering some of the kinds of allegations and evidence I have been reading in complaints cases presented to the SLCC for investigations.
A spokeswoman for one of Scotland’s consumer organisations today called on the Police & Crown Office to be more pro-active in detecting criminal activity carried out by members of Scotland’s legal profession.
She said : “It is worthwhile noting in the case of solicitor Catriona Macfarlane the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal were fairly exact in their findings and the level of detail, but it appears the Police and the Crown Office, who must have been aware of what had been reported by the Law Society and the SSDT, and the reports in the media, still did nothing.”
She continued : “Just as much as the Law Society of Scotland and the SSDT have a duty to protect consumers from solicitors who damage their clients, there is a duty on the Crown to detect and prosecute any criminal activity on the part of a solicitor to protect the general public. Why therefore has no action been taken by the Crown Office on this case where, according to the SSDT’s findings it seems a theft had been committed and covered up by a solicitor who is still able to practice.”
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill – tight lipped & soft on crimes committed by solicitors. From cases reported to me in the past involving criminal actions reported to or detected by the Law Society during the course of their investigations, it is clear to me the Law Society has a policy of not reporting criminal activity by solicitors to the Police or the Crown Office, and there is ample evidence to suggest the Crown Office itself has no wish to prosecute lawyers for criminal actions in Scotland, as I revealed in an earlier article I wrote here : Justice Secretary 'hush hush' on criminal records of lawyers as Crown Office claims its too costly to keep details on legal profession's crooks
Just to back that up once again, a client I know who reported his own solicitor to the Law Society of Scotland over fee irregularities and the misuse of his property titles claimed he had also tried to report the matter to the Police in his area but was told they did not want to become involved as the PF would probably do nothing.
He said : “I complained to the Law Society about my solicitor sending me demands for work he had not done and also refusing to hand over my title deeds until I paid his bill. The Law Society looked at the complaint and my solicitor then claimed the bill was an error but we then found out he had used my house titles to get himself a loan at the bank.”
He continued : “I called the Police in and they said it was a civil matter and wanted the Law Society to clear it up but the Law Society did nothing other than wipe the false bill, the lawyer got away with what he did at the bank and it took me nearly a year to get my title deeds back. He should have been charged and sent to jail along with all those at the Law Society who covered it up.”
The Crown Office were challenged today on the Macfarlane case, and asked if they have any intention of directing the Police to conduct enquiries with a view to bringing charges against the individuals concerned. So far, no comment has been received from the Crown Office.
46 comments:
I'm in favour of locking them all up including Mr Yelland.
The Crown Office were challenged today on the Macfarlane case, and asked if they have any intention of directing the Police to conduct enquiries with a view to bringing charges against the individuals concerned. So far, no comment has been received from the Crown Office.
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The Crown Office do not want to prosecute members of the legal profession. With the evidence available it is incredulous how what we have in this country can be called a justice system.
Law Society do not report, police do nothing because the Procurator Fiscal will do nothing. This is not a justice system, it is driven by a cover up culture.
Peter with the scandals your blog highlights how can any member of the public have faith in the system? It is shocking how the law is applied when it suits the powers that be.
I think a lawyer who covers up her husband stealing money should be struck off so why did Yelland do nothing about it ??
Absolutely disgraceful, and just another example of the banana republic system of law we have in Scotland - no wonder the Law Society and its members do everything in their power to maintain it, as matters stand they are untouchable.
Time for another 'Super-Complaint', only this time to Europe.
Yelland should report himself
Doesnt the Law Society have a duty to report crime ?
If not,why not ?
Why are you just concentrating on blaming the Crown Office ?
Dont the Police also read the newspapers and the internet ?
Shouldn't the cops have done something about it when you wrote about this last year and as I seem to remember it was also in the newspapers ?
just watched the clip - Philip should have said "in previous cases like this we usually let solicitors off the hook!"
btw great story very punchy and dont let Angiolini or MacAskill off with it (as I'm sure you wont!)
Very good although I'd wish to point out it looks like the Crown Office played with or even broke Freedom of Information law by reclassifying the enquiry as an foi request.
Would that be a little suspicious ? Crown Office breaks the law to avoid admitting it failed to uphold the law ?
What does Elish Angiolini have to say about that ?
Reporting a lawyer committing a crime to the Law Society will be as useless as reporting an MP to Parliament for diddling their expenses.
Definitely shows us we need to see the back of self regulation across the board.
Keep up the good work !
Reporting a lawyer committing a crime to the Law Society will be as useless as reporting an MP to Parliament for diddling their expenses.
Definitely shows us we need to see the back of self regulation across the board.
Keep up the good work !
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/04/10/fiscal-found-drunk-in-his-car-is-let-off-by-sheriff-86908-21267710/
Fiscal found drunk behind wheel of her car is let off by Sheriff
Apr 10 2009 Kurt Bayer
A prosecutor caught drunk behind the wheel was acquitted by a sheriff yesterday.
Fiscal Anne Hart, 38, was found by police blocking traffic in her BMW after getting kicked out of her house by her husband.
Yesterday, she admitted being drunk in charge of a vehicle.
But sheriff Jamie Gilmour believed her defence that she had not intended to drive and had placed the car keys on the passenger side floor as a precaution.
The mum-of-two told the court her private life was in turmoil at the time of her arrest in January in Monifieth, Angus.
Her mum had died a year before, she had a cancer scare and was going through a messy marriage break-up.
Hart, a senior prosecutor in Dundee, had downed a quarter bottle of vodka after rowing with her husband and had planned to drive to her father's house.
She told Arbroath Sheriff Court: "One of the reasons my marriage broke down was because of a relationship with another man but I couldn't contact him.
"I stopped the car because I was crying so much and I sat there in the car and drank the quarter bottle of vodka in a very short amount of time.
"I phoned my brother to come and pick me up because I was highly intoxicated and extremely distressed.
"I said to the police, 'The keys are not in the ignition, they are on the floor. It's OK, I'm a fiscal.' I had no intention of driving. I am a fiscal and I know the law."
Catriona Bryden, prosecuting, asked her: "Why does a fiscal sit in a car and drink a quarter bottle of vodka?"
She replied: "I wanted to numb some of the pain."
Hart's brother Timothy Johnston, 31, gave evidence that his older sister had phoned him to go and pick her up.
He said: "The next call I got from her, she was hysterical, crying and not making much sense.
"By the time I got there, there was nobody in the car." A
fter acquitting her, Sheriff Gilmour told the court: "I had to consider whether there was a likelihood that the accused was going to drive while still under the influence of alcohol.
"The defence case does cast a reasonable doubt on each of the circumstances."
In 2006, Hart was part of the team that put Britain's worst drink driver, John Williamson, behind bars and left him banned from the roads for nine lifetimes plus 109 years.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/2562654/Fiscal-is-charged-with-careless-driving.html
Boozed-up fiscal faces smash rap
By BRIAN LEWIS
Published: 30 Jul 2009
A TOP prosecutor who escaped a booze rap despite guzzling vodka in her car has been charged again - over a road smash.
Fiscal Anne Hart, 39, was accused of crashing her Audi into a parked Ford and breaking her elbow before being breathalysed in hospital.
She has now been charged with careless driving - but police are waiting on the results of blood tests before any alcohol-related charge is considered.
It comes just three months after she was cleared of being drunk in charge of a vehicle, despite being found slumped at the wheel of her BMW almost three times the booze limit.
As officers probed the latest alleged incident last night, a police source said: "She broke her elbow when she smashed into a parked car and was taken to hospital by ambulance.
"It was a couple of hours before she was breathalysed so it's procedure to get blood samples tested as well.
"If they are positive then she will no doubt be charged with drink driving."
In April, outraged road safety groups slammed Hart's acquittal at Arbroath Sheriff Court.
Cops found the mum-of-two in her BMW as it blocked traffic in Monifieth, Angus, on January 12 this year.
She was almost three times the limit after downing a quarter-bottle of vodka in her car.
And she was charged with being drunk in charge of a vehicle.
But the Dundee-based prosecutor told the court she was "distressed and upset" following her mother's death and the break-up of her marriage.
She said: "I remember the police coming, and I said, 'The keys are not in the ignition. It's OK, I'm a fiscal'."
Hart added: "I'd no intention of driving. I know the law."
She was later cleared by Sheriff Jamie Gilmour, who said there was "reasonable doubt" she planned to drive.
At the time Margaret Dekker, of the Scottish Campaign Against Irresponsible Driving, said: "This is an astonishing decision.
"Of all people, she should have been aware of the devastating consequences of such actions."
The Crown is appealing that case - but now the fiscal looks set to go before a court on another matter.
A Tayside Police spokeswoman said: "Officers attended the scene of a road traffic collision in Dundee at around 5pm on Monday July 27.
"An Audi car had collided with a parked Ford Ka.
"The driver of the Audi, a 39-year-old woman, has since been charged and reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with alleged motoring offences."
The authorities have no credibility. How does this look for Scotland on the international stage? A country were prosecuting or not prosecuting varies depending on who you are, and the connections you have.
It is a form of legal discrimination, if this was due to colour or religion there would be an outcry, but non lawyers who steal are prosecuted and lawyers who steal are not.
Clearly this is not a democracy because the population are not equal in terms of the law.
Yelland should be forced to resign and all the details of that case properly investigated by the Police (haha who will do sod all I bet)
Law Society is full of lawyers and Crown office full of lawyers so nothing will ever happen to lawyers no matter how bad the charge is
Comment at 4:12pm
and I imagine the Crown Office are also capable of reading the news ?
This report is the inevitable result of self regulation. The parties involved have no one but themselves to answer to.
Just so you know I made a complaint about my solicitor who lifted money from my building society account and nothing was done about that
One law for us another for thief rat lawyers
In Scotland we have a totally corrupt justice system, and the powers that be want to keep it that way.
Since when is theft not a criminal offence and dont we the taxpayer pay for the Crown Office to prosecute crooks like this ?
Even if you succeed in getting Angiolini's gang to do something they will just claim there's not enough evidence (even with the SSDT report) and do nothing.
Remember Peter this is the Crown Office you are dealing with and they are the most corrupt institution in Scottish public life.
Law must be the most corrupt of professions. All of the decision makers regarding access to justice, are lawyers, hence the rise of the pressure groups.
This is really bizarre.If my lawyer or anyone stole my money I'd expect the Police to investigate and charge them so why was this lawyer and her husband not charged ?
Its not good enough for the Crown to say they have no report about it.
Mr Austin Lafferty said on Newsnight Scotland the law is there to protect people, and people go to lawyers when their rights have been infringed.
Naturally he failed to talk about the people who cannot obtain the services of a lawyer, because lawyers do not sue their colleagues. Rights must be equal accross the board Mr Lafferty, but you know this is not the case. Put it this way, when has there ever been a case on the television news where a member of the Scottish legal profession, has sued a law firm on behalf of a ruined client?
Anonymous said...
This is really bizarre.If my lawyer or anyone stole my money I'd expect the Police to investigate and charge them so why was this lawyer and her husband not charged ?
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If anyone stole your money the police would investigate, but the Law Society and Crown Office control the police, so lawyers are exempt. I believe a lawyer can murder someone and the police will not investigate it properly. We have more in common with Nazi Germany than the public realise. The Law Society of Scotland are in control of the legal and political system.
The Injust Law Society of Scotland are powerful people but not invincible.
No matter how dishonest lawyers are, the Society clearly dispise clients with these revelations. Clients have zero protection against this profession. A bank manager stealing money, would he work in banking again? The decision makers suffer from chronic incurable bias, that is why crooked lawyers do not get struck off.
Dont worry all of you - Yelland is equally hated by many solicitors.Think power and a man who has too much of it.
Law Complaints Chief Philip Yelland did not report investigation’s theft details to Police.
Good morning Mr Yelland, some client relations officer, as Peter said if you told him the sky was blue he would have to check this himself. It is criminal what you people are doing, a cover up protective culture is the reality not the best in consumer protection as Mr Pritchard stated.
Asking you people to investigate a corrupt lawyer, is like asking Adolf Hitler to investigate the holocaust. You are meant to protect clients, you will never do that, there is overwhelming evidence to support this view. All you are doing is undermining the legal profession, in the eyes of the public. If I was a lawyer I would want you out.
Obviously Mr Yelland was talking bs in the interview as Macfarlane was not struck off - she was fined and allowed to continue working.
It is high time Mr Yelland can never work in the legal profession again, especially in his current role.
You see this is how the public are fooled with people like this Yelland character who are allowed to waffle during interviews telling the biggest load of porkies going.
How about questioning this guy live on camera on how many suicides of clients he has caused ?
Now that would be a lot better than letting him waffle waffle waffle ad-nauseam
If anyone stole your money the police would investigate, but the Law Society and Crown Office control the police, so lawyers are exempt. I believe a lawyer can murder someone and the police will not investigate it properly. We have more in common with Nazi Germany than the public realise. The Law Society of Scotland are in control of the legal and political system.
Do you think this could happen Peter?
BBC NEWS
A sheriff clerk who was branded "the classic conman" is facing jail after admitting defrauding the Scottish Court Service of £130,000 over three years.
Graeme Wilson, 29, faked signatures on jury members' expenses forms and wrote himself blank cheques in the names of imaginary doctors billing the court.
He told workmates that he earned extra cash through semi-professional rugby and property development.
Sentence on the 29-year-old from Kirkcaldy, Fife, was deferred.
Peter your blog is superb, it cuts through the Bull**** from smoothies like Mr Yelland.
The Legal profession have no credibility, and they know it.
Anonymous said...
I'm in favour of locking them all up including Mr Yelland.
Even if they are not locked up they are not believed. Many clients would struggle to do what Peter is doing, because they lack resources and sufficient understanding of the legal issues. But he is doing brilliant investigative work, and proving beyond all doubt that these people are dishonest. That is why many in the legal profession do not like Peter, because they all know he is correct. I support you 100% Peter.
Super blog.
Visit www.sacl/info and look at the rogues gallery, see the crooks that run the legal profession and some of the practitioners. That Yelland chap is on there too and Douglas Mill, the man who's granny spins in her grave, because of Doug's lies to the Justice 2 committee, no disrespect to the old lady.
From www.sacl/info website
Professor Frank Stephen and Dr Angela Melville name & shame the Law Society over its blatant refusal to provide them with any usable information on the Scottish Solicitors' Master Policy.
Must have been heaving with corruption. Perhaps Lorna Jack could shed some light on this, but somehow I doubt it.
When one thinks of Adolf Hitler, the word genocide comes to mind.
With the Law Society the word corruption comes to mind.
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill – tight lipped & soft on crimes committed by solicitors.
Ah Mr MacAskill, you do your profession great damage by your attitude. You are the justice minister.
Do you think it would be acceptable for an international court to allow the Bosnian Serb leaders to investigate genocide. Of course not. But you will defend self regulation. The difference here is between murder and ruined clients. It is fine for you Mr MacAskill, you are not lawyer barred. On the contrary you and the brotherhood you love so much are getting weaker each day. I believe in many ways you will be a decent man. But self regulation in any sphere is a platform for injustice. The latter cannot prevail, no matter how much you want it to. Would you think it fair for the Klu Klux Klan to be in charge of a trial of a black man, or the South African police to oversee the trial of a man like Steve Biko? They murdered him, and Peter Gabriel wrote a song about this.
Self regulation, those clubs answerable only to their own are dangerous. They create injustice which as the great Martin Luther King said is a threat to justice everywhere.
Anonymous said...
You see this is how the public are fooled with people like this Yelland character who are allowed to waffle during interviews telling the biggest load of porkies going.
How about questioning this guy live on camera on how many suicides of clients he has caused ?
Now that would be a lot better than letting him waffle waffle waffle ad-nauseam.
Well said. All lawyers are devils, evil sadists who do not care about the desperate positions clients are left in. I would jail all of them and cut off their air supply.
I remember James Burke talking years ago about commander Jim Lovell, having a backup to bring the crippled space ship back to Earth. On our planet we have no backup if there is a nuclear war, or global warming. Watch the news, planet injustice is slowly being destroyed by the humans who have nowhere to go.
We never learn, it is F**k you jack I am alright, one day it will go nuclear. Excuse me Peter for my views. Lawyers ruin clients, wars are fought because of religion, race, ideological views. Humans are restless, no matter what they have, they want more, madness, madness. Our planet is not an infinite resource to be used and abused. But human greed, just like lawyer greed will destroy all of us. Will we ever learn? I doubt it.
Anyone who covers up a theft can never be trusted again so any member of the public that might use this legal firm or lawyer in the future deserves to be ripped off.YOu have all been fairly warned !
The legal system is composed of people who have immunity from the consequences of their corruption. This is what is to be expected from Robert Mugabe. Massive change is needed to the Scottish system of justice, because justice is applied to the many but not the few. This is the result of self regulation. It never works ahd should be outlawed, but of course we need politicians to do that.
Perhaps Lorna Green should be first minister, because the Law Society is running the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8458675.stm
Painting stolen from historic law library
A valuable painting has been stolen from a library used by some of Scotland's most senior lawyers.
The watercolour was taken over the New Year from the historic Signet Library in Edinburgh, home of the country's legal establishment.
The Signet Library is in Parliament Square off the Royal Mile and houses The Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, an independent body of lawyers.
It is one of the oldest professional bodies in the world.
The library is a favourite venue for prestigious functions and played host to a New Year party for 200 people.
Sometime between then and 5 January, the watercolour, 'I Cannae Hear Ye' by Borders artist Tom Scott, was stolen.
It is valued at up to £4,000.
A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "This has been an opportunistic theft of a relatively expensive piece of artwork, and we are eager to ensure it is returned to the library.
"Anyone who has any information that can assist our inquiries should contact police immediately."
Tom Scott lived between 1854 and 1927 and mainly painted landscapes.
All partners of HBJ Gateley davinci painting thieves Wareing were accounted for during this period ??
So the guy in the video is Mr Yelland who gets all the crooked lawyers off the hook ?
He must have those lies well practised by now.Disgusting.
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