However, the latest declarations of hospitality to court staff in Scotland - reveals a slight decrease in gifts & hospitality from law firms raking in millions in publicly funded legal aid, while ‘anonymous’ gifts from unidentified “Member of the public” appear to be on the rise.
Among the providers of ‘hospitality’ to court staff are multiple law firms, technology companies, in-house legal teams of Scottish Local Authorities, and even Police Scotland, who provided a “Crystal engraved Police Scotland Armed Policing Specialist Firearms Unit ornament” to the Supreme Courts.
And now - thanks to media scrutiny, records of hospitality which is offered but refused - is also now part of the register.
Examples of refused hospitality include a burns supper dinner, offered by Microsoft to the Information Technology Unit in January 2019, and questionable offers of hospitality by Procuratir Fiscals to court staff – which included a faculty dinner offered to court staff at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.
The rate of hospitality in terms of high value gifts has declined, at least if the disclosed records are to be believed.
And, law firms which are known to have received up to half a million pounds of legal aid every year – who were previously showering staff in local courts with gifts & hospitality – are no longer flooding the courts with perks & freebies after Diary of Justice began publishing disclosures on courtroom hospitality and it’s connections to legal aid & lawyers touting for business in local criminal courts.
The recently disclosed Register of Hospitality for Scotland’s Courts & Tribunals Service running from 2017-2019 – as provided by the SCTS in relation to a Freedom of Information request - can be viewed here: Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service Register of Hospitality 2017-2019
A full listing of solicitors & law firms, companies and others who offered hospitality to court staff and the judiciary - can be viewed by searching the Register of Hospitality document which runs in detail to twenty eight pages, providing details of all disclosed hospitality from law firms, and others to the Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service.
Prior to Freedom of Information requests from DOJ journalists, the SCTS register of hospitality did not identify law firms – and was later found to be incomplete in recording hospitality, after an investigation was launched due to media coverage of gifts by law firms – some of which have received many millions of pounds of legal aid over the last decade.
Extract of Register of Hospitality 2013 Scottish Courts Service. Disclosures from the Scottish Court Service in documents reveal that in the last five years, over 500 instances of gifts and hospitality received by publicly funded SCS were declared under the rules.
Gifts such as expensive champagne, wines, chocolates and dinner invitations were given by lawyers and others to Sheriff Clerks and SCS staff, along with invitations to the Royal Garden Party, paid-for trips in planes, tickets to football matches and a host of other goods, services & gifts many court users may well come to question in terms of how much this gift giving by lawyers dents the supposed impartiality of court staff.
During reporting of the issue back in 2013, it emerged in the media that in some cases, lawyers had paid for criminal fines accrued by court staff, leading some to question their reasons for doing so and what secret benefits this brought to the legal profession and court staff involved.
At the time, legal sources acknowledged to Diary of Justice that significant numbers of gifts have not been declared by court staff, and that much of the gift giving may well be seen as thanks for favours done in court for law firms, particularly those who are pursuing clients for unpaid fees.
The lack of declarations of hospitality and gifts, and the coverage by Diary of Justice, which reported on concerns regarding hospitality involving Scottish Court Service employees – led to an investigation by Gillian Thompson – who served as Scotland’s second Judicial Complaints Reviewer (JCR)
Ms Thompson was asked by the Scottish Court Service to investigate reports of irregularities in hospitality given to court staff.
The request for the investigation came after the Scottish Court Service received Freedom of Information requests regarding hospitality in the courts, prompting concerns some staff may have accepted gifts or hospitality but failed to register.
Report said SCS Registers insufficient, Court staff involved in private gains failed to declare. Gillian Thompson’s Report on Hospitality & Gifts in the SCS stated: “The information currently captured on the registers is insufficient to provide assurance that staff are using their common sense and considering issues such as conflict of interest.
Ms Thompson went on to recommend the “SCS should revise the Policy on Acceptance of Gifts, Rewards and Hospitality to ensure that it is fit for purpose for all staff, taking account of the various roles performed within SCS. It may also be time to revisit the levels of value for gifts and hospitality.”
The former AIB’s report also revealed court staff were using their positions to earn money privately from their links with lawyers and law firms operating in courts, stating “Several staff raised the issue of sheriff clerks who carry out extrajudicial taxations and private assessments and who personally benefit financially from these activities.”
Ms Thompson’s report roundly condemned this practice, stating: “Not only is it inappropriate in terms of the civil service code requirements for staff who are public servants to be able to receive private gain from their employment it is also highly divisive when other staff see such benefits being derived from simply being in the right post of Auditor of Court within the Sheriff Courts.”
Ms Thompson recommended in her report the “SCS should bring the practice of sheriff clerks profiting privately from their employment by SCS to an end as quickly as possible”.
HOW COURT CHIEFS LOST HOSPITALITY INFORMATION BATTLE
When DOI launched an initial investigation into hospitality and graft among court staff, the Scottish Court Service refused to release information relating to the gift register, claiming “the names of the gift or hospitality provider would be deemed as personal information” and “as the provider of the gift or hospitality was not made aware at the time that their name may be released, we consider disclosure of such is likely to bring the Scottish Court Service into conflict with the data protection principles.”
However, the Freedom of Information request – from DOJ – triggered a review of hospitality policy at the Scottish Court Service, leading to names of ‘'hospitality’ providers being added to the register.
Richard Warner of the SCS said: “I can advise you that due to your request for this information, the Scottish Court Service has changed the policy covering hospitality and gifts to ensure that the provider of any hospitality or gift are made aware that their name shall be entered on to our register and may be disclosed if requested in any future information request. This policy change shall take effect as from 1 January 2014 so the release of names may be considered in any future request for gifts or hospitality offered from this date. The policy also states that if the provider does not consent to their name being considered for release then the gift or hospitality cannot be accepted by a member of staff.”
After a request for review of refusal to disclose the information, the SCS again refused - this time around, claiming it would cost them too much to contact each law firm to ask permission to disclose their ‘hospitality’ to court employees. The SCS claimed they would have to contact every lawyer who gave a gift and this would cost too much to provide the information.
DOJ journalists took the matter up with Rosemary Agnew - the Scottish Information Commissioner – who requested Courts Chief Eric McQueen provide an explanation as to why the courts were blocking release of information on hospitality relationships between the legal profession and court staff.
John Kelly, Freedom of Information Officer at the SIC said: “Having written to and discussed the matter with the SCS, without being required to do so by way of a formal Decision Notice, the SCS has agreed to provide you with the information requested, subject to redactions in terms of section 38(1)(b) of FOISA on the basis that to disclose some of the names of individuals would breach the first data protection principle of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the DPA). I understand that the names of Solicitor and Law Firms will be provided.”
After the intervention of the Scottish Information Commissioner, the SCS subsequently released the hospitality list to journalists.
Richard Warner for the SCS said: “Having reconsidered your request, and the SCS response, I now attach a list which indicates law firms where this information has been recorded. For the reasons stated in our earlier response this does not include the names of any individuals concerned as there could have been no expectation on their part that this information would be circulated or published widely. As indicated previously, steps are being taken to ensure that individual persons are made aware at the relevant time that their details made be released as a result of an information request.”
Previous articles on hospitality and gifts to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, reports on gift giving to court employees and investigations by Diary of Injustice on the relationship between law firms and SCTS staff can be found here Hospitality and Gifts to the Scottish Courts.
Having read your article my observation and comment:
ReplyDelete1 - There should be a total and complete ban on any form of hospitality whatsoever to court staff, courts, anyone employed by the courts and the judiciary.
2 - Hospitality from Prosecutors and especially the Police is a shocking development and should be investigated further by yourself and published as widely as possible given the potential for influencing justice and outcomes of criminal or civil cases.
3 - I am in no doubt from reading your history of reporting on hospitality this register and contents has only come about and been upgraded in terms of content due to your excellent reputation and tenacity for pursuing transparency in Scottish courts.
To this end may I suggest you pursue the "member of the public" term used to anonymise gifts and hospitality because the term itself sounds suspicious and as many of your readers will assume I am sure the "member of the public" is being used to conceal gifts from law firms and others close to or connected to court staff and the judiciary.
4 - Having read through the disclosed hospitality register you published may I suggest you add to your article as a paragraph in text all the disclosed names of law firms and the named courts involved in hospitality. This will make it easier for search engines to detect the names of those involved in hospitality to courts and other.
Lastly - Reading the report by Gillian Thompson on hospitality clearly as a result of your investigations I conclude the problems documented and issues you raise in under reporting of hospitality and gifts used to influence courts and judges remain an issue in 2020 and have not been resolved in what we all know very well to be cover up Scotland.
Nice to see a journalist getting things done.
Keep up the good work Peter.
@ 10 January 2020 at 09:23
ReplyDeleteThanks, and yes .. your suggestion appreciated, will add the law firms & court locations to the article text.
Outrageous
ReplyDeleteJudges and courts must be banned from taking gifts from cops and prosecutors
I agree entirely with the first comment. At the very least any offer of gifts should be submitted to and decided by a truly independent and separate authority. I for one have no confidence in the present Judicial Complaints Officer doing an effective job.
ReplyDeleteGood one Pete I see you are getting it on twitter for writing about the hospitality to the court workers ah well we always knew there are a lot of corrupt b@stards in the legal mafia bunging the courts for their own gains stands to reason when you see all the weird verdicts for lawyers best pals all the time and every time
ReplyDeleteas someone said above keep up the good work mate!
@ 10 January 2020 at 16:48
ReplyDeleteGood points, and yes ..current JCR very silent
@ 10 January 2020 at 16:51
Thanks.
ofc, not here to write PR for the legal profession - they get enough of that from well funded Law Society of Scotland and sympathetic hand holding interviews on BBC - where reported big scandal turns out to be lawyer using beeb to gather clients to sue for xxx then years later lawyer takes most of clients compo and clients end up contacting DOJ to tell all.
Very interesting exchanges I read on your twitter posting
ReplyDeleteWhy is solicitor Andy Bryson so upset over the exposure of hospitality to courts and judges I wonder
He works at Nelsons Solicitors and claims to be "highly regarded by Sheriffs throughout Scotland" in his bio http://www.nelsonsfalkirk.co.uk/mental-health/
"Andy Bryson has been practising since 1990, almost exclusively in criminal defence. Popular and honest. Andy is highly regarded by Sheriffs throughout Scotland.He has a keen mind and is very approachable.He too awaits instructions in his first ever treason case but beyond that he has represented clients all over Scotland in every known crime, successfully."
Yet he clearly has an issue with the press looking at hospitality to courts.
Worth scrutiny?
Now wondering where hospitality and angry lawyers with chips on their shoulders about scrutiny may fit into the Caledonian system well known in the profession awash with public cash and referral fees etc https://www.sccjr.ac.uk/news-events/events/the-caledonian-mens-programme-an-integrated-response-to-domestic-abuse-butler-trust-winner-2010/
ReplyDeleteAnother view of solicitor Andy Bryson worth reading re his defence of a client convicted of domestic [abuse] offences
Andy Bryson, defence solicitor, said Thornton, who has three previous domestic convictions, had “little recollection” of the incident.
Sheriff Derek Livingston placed Thornton on a supervised community payback order for two years with the condition he attend the Caledonian domestic abuse project.
https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/crime/furious-about-dozing-wife-1-4687808
Furious about dozing wife
Published: 16:08 Monday 12 February 2018
A husband’s anger reached boiling point when his wife fell asleep watching TV so he ran into the kitchen and started smashing it up.
Alan Thornton (37) eventually had to be taken to hospital covered in his own blood following his drunken outburst.
Thornton, 41 Norwood Avenue, Bonnybridge, appeared at Falkirk Sheriff Court last Thursday having pled guilty to behaving in a threatening manner in Bankier Terrace, Banknock, on January 14.
Procurator fiscal Ruaridh Ferguson said: “It was 8.15pm and the accused and complainer were in their living room watching television. Alcohol was being consumed – between two and three bottles of wine – and the children in the relationship were upstairs playing at this time.
“The complainer started to fall asleep and this angered the accused, who got up and went into the kitchen. Hearing the sound of smashing from the kitchen, the complainer went outside with the children.”
Going back inside the house, Thorton’s wife found him still in the kitchen, holding smashed glass which caused cuts to his arms. She contacted police and Thornton left the house. He was later traced and taken to hospital.
Andy Bryson, defence solicitor, said Thornton, who has three previous domestic convictions, had “little recollection” of the incident.
Sheriff Derek Livingston placed Thornton on a supervised community payback order for two years with the condition he attend the Caledonian domestic abuse project.
"ofc, not here to write PR for the legal profession - they get enough of that from well funded Law Society of Scotland and sympathetic hand holding interviews on BBC - where reported big scandal turns out to be lawyer using beeb to gather clients to sue for xxx then years later lawyer takes most of clients compo and clients end up contacting DOJ to tell all"
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with your comment Peter.
All these big stories on the likes of BBC Scotland big scandal big sandal and interviews with victims THEN half the programme taken up with a solicitor talking away about how horrible this was allowed to happen and the solicitor encouraging others to come forward to their law firm in free advertising from the biased BBC
Clearly money or favours change hands between the lawyer and the journalist or their news desk such as you get us on this programme and we will give you info on another story for favourable news coverage
If you watch through most of the recent scandals reported as breaking news on BBC Scotland you find the SAME law firm in Glasgow quoted every time in what is obviously rigged news via lawyers and favours for news
I see your point Peter
ReplyDeleteJust imagine someone is on trial and the trial judge has received hospitality from the prosecutor but doesnt disclose it same for any court clerks in the hearings and then the person is found guilty with a nod and a wink to the Procurator Fiscal's gifts and lunch.
Yes I agree all hospitality to the courts and judiciary should be banned. After all they claim to be paid enormous salaries to put them off corruption so why are they accepting hospitality when the gifts sound more like bribes and court staff are trying to hide it from public view as said in the report you posted.
How is your petition for the register of judges interests? I imagine this should be part of the investigation because the court service workers failed to declare hospitality it says so in that report!
@ 10 January 2020 at 18:52
ReplyDeleteNoted. Mr Bryson does that a lot, and to other journalists.
Nelsons claimed £240,000 in publicly funded Legal Aid in 2018-2019
In the preceding year the same firm claimed £262,000 in publicly funded Legal Aid (2017-2018)
Similar figures for other years, and going back to 2009-2010, Nelsons Solicitors received nearly half a million in Legal Aid for one year - £434,100
(all figures provided by the Scottish Legal Aid Board)
@ 10 January 2020 at 18:57
Thanks, I'll look at this. The SCCJR is a project between several universities and the Caledonian Abuse project was given an extra £2.8m from the Scottish Government in 2018.
Thing about abuse funding & compo though - reporting on this brings just as much animosity online, e.g. last year I was approached by an alleged abuse victim. When I did not respond to an initial query, he inadvertently copied in a long chain of emails which revealed an MSP was urging him to "go after" certain journalists and opposition politicians on social media .. and the alleged abuse victim was doing exactly that - then he probably realised he sent me the entire message string and no further contact received since.
@ 10 January 2020 at 19:33
Oh yes, very noticeable re the same law firm with name beginning with a T. A lot going on there as you say ...
In any case, the BBC often make a hash of an issue and then walk away and leave it.Beeb journos too busy awarding themselves medals on the license fee payer while ignoring Scotland and real life stories. Can well do without.
@ 10 January 2020 at 19:49
Agreed, altho the alternative is often - the Sheriff may have received hospitality (lunches, gifts, meetings, you name it) from the defence lawyer (often occurs and is never disclosed) and then surprise- all the defence lawyer's clients get postponed hearings on various (and laughable) medical grounds, especially drunk drivers, domestic abusers, those forgetful of their own actions .. etc etc
Petition for a Register of Judicial Interests is now with the Justice Committee, there have been positive updates reported in The Times newspaper and will be covered in due course soon on the blog.
Am interested to hear of any further info regarding law firms and other corporate hospitality to court staff and the judiciary.
A comment not posted identified a Sheriff and a local court in connection with this subject - more info please via the blog email thanks
The lawyer who replied to you on twitter is full of crap and so is his fake twitter supporter the one who claims to be a solicitor advocate
ReplyDeleteFull marks to you for putting that idiot in his place after you told him this was a law firm who put you onto the story after some other lawyers stole their clients by using the hospitality trick to the court staff!
The courts may be a business to the likes of Bryson however in reality the courts are where a litigant's case or an accused person's fate is decided by the same judges and court employees he and his ilk are keen on schmoozing up to due to vast pocketing of legal aid cash and all the back scratching by the legal mob
Your article must have touched a raw nerve among the hospitality creeps of the Law Society of Scotland club and they are using this to influence cases and outcomes in court
Belated Happy New Year to you Peter
@ 11 January 2020 at 06:45
ReplyDeleteYes, as indicated in the original reports from some years back it was a law firm who approached and highlighted hospitality to court staff being used for career advancement, poaching clients from other law firms, and personal profit.
Also discovered via one of the law firms who approached on law firms hospitality - the Court service has been giving jobs (some without interview or even job advertisement) to friends in the legal profession and ex Crown Office staff who avoided a wide range of criminal charges for tipping off criminals and/or resigning after quiet Crown Office deals to leave work.
The so-called abuse victim who presumably was abusing journalists online at the behest of the msp who are they and what political party is he/she from?
ReplyDeleteTalking about lawyers from Scotland a friend of mine told me how a Scottish lawyer at one of the big London firms managed to embezzle over one million from client accounts then fled back up north to Edinburgh.Left a hell of a mess to sort out and firm ended up having to pay back clients after the Law Society of Scotland refused to cooperate in an investigation.The Police in Edinburgh refused to become involved probably down to the fact the lawyer (still practicing) bragged about relatives and connections in Scottish Police.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article as always.
ReplyDeleteCan I just remind you the blog is far more important than Twitter especially Scottish Twitter well known as the nastiest around even worse than the Trump crowd you can do without legal aid sucking lawyers who spend their time in court on legal aid telling judges their clients cant remember a thing on domestic abuse charges!
also forgot to say thanks for always posting the evidence on documents and reports!
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWill feature more on this and the message content when results of enquiries come back - although a glance through the emails suggest political support for a compo claim in return for online abuse against perceived critics & media.
@ 11 January 2020 at 11:43
Would like to hear more about this via blog email, thanks.
@ 11 January 2020 at 13:44
Noted. However good thing about Twitter is when a lawyer goes feral or rabid over news & foi - other lawyers take note, make contact & tell a different story of certain lawyers who believe themselves to be god's gift to legal aid.
The Hospitality register you posted is searchable as a pdf file so you dont need to post the entire list of law firms.
ReplyDeletehere are a few I spotted but there are many more and Hamilton Sheriff Court keeps coming up as a hospitality taker many times over in the register
The Society of Solicitors of Hamilton (Hamilton Sheriff Court), Burnett & Co (Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Digby Brown Solicitors (Aberdeen Sheriff Court), McKinnon Hewitt Solicitors (Kilmarnock Sheriff Court), Belmonte & Co Solicitors (SCTS Lothian & Borders mgmt team), Leonards Solicitors (Hamilton Sheriff Court), Norwegian Civil Law Division (OPG & AOC), Innes Johnson LLP Kirkcaldy (Dunfermline Sheriff Court), Netherlands Judiciary, Lamont's Solicitors Ayr (Ayr Sheriff Court), Aberdeen Bar Association (Aberdeen Sheriff Court), George Mathers & Co solicitors (Aberdeen Sheriff Court), West Lothian College, Bar Association (Aberdeen Sheriff Court), Nigel Beaumont Solicitor (Edinburgh Sheriff Court), Unidentified Solicitor 3x Hospitality (Livingston Sheriff Court), Adams Whyte Defence Lawyers (Livingston Sheriff Court), Bar Association (Livingston Sheriff Court), Allcourt Solicitors (Livingston Sheriff Court), Balfour & Manson (Supreme Courts), Ministry of Justice - Korea (OPG & AOC) , Ministry of Justice republic of Korea (OPG & AOC), Chinese Delegation (Supreme Courts), School Mock Court Case Project (Supreme Courts), Marsh Insurance (OPG & AOC), University of Glasgow (Glasgow Sheriff Court), Solicitors for the Elderly (Supreme Courts), Inverness Legal Services (Inverness Sheriff Court), Malcolm Boyd Sheriff Officers (Airdrie Sheriff Court), BTO Solicitors (Supreme Courts & Edinburgh Sheriff Courts), Stewart and Watson property & Legal services (Elgin Sheriff Court), T Duncan & Co (Forfar Sheriff Court), Caesar & Howie Solicitors Alloa (Alloa SHeriff Court) , PoliceScotland (Supreme Courts), Cockburn McGrane Solicitors (Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court), G4S (Dundee Sheriff Court), MacDonald Law, Thurso (Kirkwall Sheriff Court), Caird Vaughan Solicitors (Dundee Sheriff Court), Lefevre Litigation (Supreme Courts), Alistair Young Solicitor (Dumbarton Sheriff Court), McKenna Law Practice (Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court), President of the Law Society of Scotland (SCTS Chief Executive Office), Court Police Officers (Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court), Hunter & Robertson solicitors (Paisley Sheriff Court), Procurator Fiscals Office Hamilton, Summary Unit (Hamilton Sheriff Court), Bonnar Accident Law (Airdrie Sheriff Court), JK Cameron solicitors (Dumbarton, Airdrie Sheriff Court), Kenneth M Greener solicitors (Hamilton Sheriff Court), Wink and MacKenzie solicitors (Elgin Sheriff Court), Aberdein Considine solicitors (Aberdeen Sheriff Court), Mackie Thomson & Co Ltd solicitors (Hamilton Sheriff Court), North Lanarkshire Council Legal (Hamilton Sheriff Court), Procurator Fiscal (Dundee Sheriff Court), Stirling Dunlop solicitors (Hamilton Sheriff Court), the MacKenzie Law Practice (Inverness Sheriff Court), AC O'Neill solicitors (Dumbarton Sheriff Court), Adairs solicitors (Dumbarton Sheriff Court),
@ 12 January 2020 at 09:02
ReplyDeleteThanks, and yes - the pdf is searchable. Since you have posted a summary of law firms, I'll use this in an update to the article with a caption of the latest register & your summary - thanks for your effort to list the law firms involved, much appreciated.
Belmonte is on the hospitality list
ReplyDeleteThis is the same lawyer/law firm who blew up the Police drive on sex clubs in Edinburgh where judges gangsters and top cops were drugging up prostitutes before raping them.
Any tame readers may want to close their eyes to the Sunday Mail story on Belmonte
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/lawyer-who-foiled-massive-police-8959556
The lawyer who foiled massive police operation to close down Edinburgh sex saunas
VINCENT Belmonte brought Police Scotland’s high-profile Operation Windermere shuddering to an embarrassing halt.
ByNorman Silvester 2 OCT 2016
A VETERAN criminal lawyer has revealed he was the man who foiled a massive police campaign to close down Edinburgh’s controversial sex saunas.
Vincent Belmonte brought Police Scotland’s high-profile Operation Windermere shuddering to an embarrassing halt.
The 72-year-old – who has been a solicitor for almost 50 years – represented several saunas facing brothel-keeping charges after a wave of raids by officers.
Belmonte based his case on an investigation he made into claims a deal had been struck between owners, council bosses and police in the 80s.
He launched the probe after reading a newspaper article by ex-Lothian and Borders Deputy Chief Constable Tom Wood.
Last week, we revealed criminal charges against 11 people collapsed after it emerged the sale of sex has effectively been legal in Edinburgh since 1986.
A deal was made at the height of the capital’s Aids epidemic and signed off by the authorities, who agreed saunas could have prostitutes on the premises if they promoted safe sex and supplied condoms.
Belmonte said he hit a stonewall when he asked agencies to confirm the deal – but hit the jackpot when Sheriff Kenneth McIver admitted it existed.
He said: “I was absolutely certain there was a policy and just needed to prove it. The saunas were trading legally in my eyes as a lawyer.
“I was told it was a policy that required the agreement of the various agencies in the city at the time. The agencies involved were Edinburgh City Council, the NHS in Lothian, the police, the prosecution authorities and the environmental health people.
“The former deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police Tom Wood then wrote an article after the raids referring to the existence of a long-standing sauna policy.
“He was also interviewed by the procurator fiscal. When I saw the comments by Mr Wood, that spurred me on.
“I asked all the agencies to send me records of their meetings which had set up the policy.
“None of them cooperated. I then wrote asking to take statements from the people involved in the policy, one of whom was Sheriff McIver.
“There was a three or four-week silence. I was then told discreetly not to bother preparing for the case as it wasn’t going ahead.
“The procurator fiscal at the Crown Office clearly didn’t have any idea that the policy existed and had never been rescinded.
“I knew then the Crown were in difficulties, so I wasn’t surprised the case was dropped.”
Sheriff McIver helped formulate the agreement in 1986 while working as a senior depute fiscal in the Crown Office.
Though McIver declined to speak to Belmonte, the lawyer then wrote to the Crown Office to tell them about the policy and McIver’s role.
Officials interviewed McIver who confirmed the existence of the policy.
When Belmonte and other lawyers turned up at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for trial a week later in November 2015, they were told that all charges were dropped and the case was not going ahead. Brothel-keeping and prostitution charges against other bosses were also ditched.
I know Andy a smartarse highly regarded in his own mind.
ReplyDeleteNelsons are not in your register so he must be worried about something.