CRIME FLIES: Crown Office jet set junket racket - Files reveal Prosecutors spent £57K on international & domestic air travel as crooks deal plea bargains to dodge law & courts

Prosecutors swap court time for international jet travel. SCOTLAND’S Prosecutors based in Edinburgh at the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) - are now spending as much time in the air jetting between international destinations than chasing some of Scotland’s biggest crooks, tax dodgers, gangsters & serial offenders.

Figures obtained by the media show the Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland and his team of staff jetting off to 39 international destinations and choosing air travel over other modes of transport for 143 domestic UK flights – all funded by public cash.

Hong Kong, Mauritius, Taiwan South Africa, Australia, Malta, San Francisco, and New York are listed among the international destinations visited by Crown Office employees on the taxpayer air junket ticket.

The figures (Destination & number of flights) reveal: International flights 2012/13:  Albania  2, Amsterdam  10, Brussels  1, Budapest  1, Cape Town  1, Charles de Gaulle  2, Cologne/Bonn  1, Copenhagen  2, Frankfurt  1, Lisbon  2, Luxembourg  4, Malta  1, Pula  1, Rome Leonardo de Vinci  2, Washington Dulles Int  5, 2012/13 Total  36

International flights 2013/14:  Amsterdam  12, Basle  1, Brussels  1, Bucherest, Romania  2, Canberra  1, Charles de Gaulle  5, Hobart  3, Krakow  1, Luxembourg  3, Madrid  2, Taipei  1, Vilnius  1, Washington Dulles Int  1, Total  34

UK Domestic flights 2012/13: Aberdeen  2, Benbecula  2, Birmingham  1, Edinburgh  9, Glasgow  8, Inverness - Airport  2, Kirkwall  1, Lerwick, Shetland  1, London City  34, London Gatwick  7, London Heathrow  28, Manchester  2, Total  97.

UK Domestic flights 2013/14: Birmingham  4, Edinburgh  9, Glasgow  6, Inverness - Airport  4, Kirkwall  3, Lerwick, Shetland  14, London City  30, London Gatwick  9, London Heathrow  42, London Stansted  3, Stornoway  5, Total  131

The growing air junket habit at the Crown Office comes after the media exposed a bonus culture racket among Scots prosecutors – revealing Crown Office staff share bonus payoffs of more than £580,000 in just two years.

Yet, every year, the Edinburgh based Crown Office - which costs taxpayers a staggering £112.5 million every year – issues regular press releases claiming hard up prosecutors are busy chasing hundreds of criminal gangs and  thousands of unknown gangsters and their ‘professional’ advisers – who hardly ever see the inside of a court room.

Recently the Crown Office has come in for criticism after a number of high profile and expensive prosecution flops which allowed criminals to walk free after prosecutors failed to do their job.

And in a number of cases presented by the Crown Office as successes for justice - a deeper look into the facts of the prosecutions and their outcomes revealed plea bargains and  proceeds of crime seizures dwarfed by vast amounts of publicly funded legal aid paid to crooks.

Last week, BBC news reported a Perth drugs dealer had been allowed to keep £300K of his drugs profits - after high flying prosecutors cut a plea bargain deal.

The Crown Office and Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland have also been hit with criticism over their refusal to prosecute the driver of the Glasgow bin lorry tragedy which resulted in six ‘preventable’ deaths.

Another similar case where Prosecutors were criticised for a failure to act involved the deaths of two students, killed by a driver of a Range Rover in Glasgow in 2010. The Crown Office dropped their attempt to prosecute the driver in 2013. Both cases are now the subject of bids to begin private prosecutions.

The Scottish Sun reports:

CRIME FLY WITH ME: Taxpayers foot exotic trips bill 

Prosecutors' £57K travel costs

Exclusive:by Russell Findlay Scottish Sun 03/01/2016

PROSECUTORS were blasted for splurging more than £57,000 of taxpayers' cash last year alone flying staff across the globe.

Hong Kong, Mauritius, Taiwan and New York were among 15 exotic destinations visited by Crown Office employees.

And since 2012, they have taken off on a total of 109 international flights to places like South Africa, Australia and Malta.

Yesterday, Tory MSP Alex Johnstone slammed the foreign travel bill as "appalling".

It comes as Finance Secretary John Swinney raised the Crown's budget by £400,000 to £112.5million for this year, despite massive public spending cuts elsewhere.

Mr Johnstone said: "Hard-working Scots will be appalled to learn their cash is going on flying staff out to far-flung destinations.

"If it's not to solve a crime, then they shouldn't be going — there are plenty of conferences and training events in the UK."

He added: "As the SNP are slashing budgets left, right and centre and local courts are closing, this does not represent good value."

The Crown, led by Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, racked up £29,504 on 39 international flights to meetings and conferences last year and £27,603 on 143 domestic trips.

The number of overseas flights has remained fairly steady over three years at 36, 34 then 39.

But domestic flights have increased sharply from 97 to 131, then 143 last year.

Amsterdam was the most common destination, with 30 trips since 2012. The Dutch city is a major travel hub and close to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Flights to Washington DC and Malta were in connection with the ongoing probe into the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

Scottish Labour justice spokesman Graeme Pearson said: "As prosecution services are finding it hard to deliver justice across our shrinking court system, I hope the authorities can justify the costs."

A Crown Office spokesman last night defended the outlay and insisted bosses "strive to provide the best value for the public purse".

He added: "Prosecutors are required to travel abroad in connection with the investigation of cases, in the support of international co-operation and to secure the extradition of individuals who have committed serious crimes.

"It is essential to ensure that Scottish interests are represented at meetings and conferences, which may make decisions which have far reaching consequences for the police, courts and people of Scotland.

"It would be irresponsible not to ensure that representation."

£26K SPLASHED ON JUDGES' JAUNTS

by Russell Findlay

JUDGES sparked controversy last year after we revealed they spent £26,000 of taxpayers' cash on overseas trips.

Top beaks flew out to destinations including Russia, Israel, Switzerland, Germany & France.

The most expensive jaunt was a £5,8000 visit to Canada by Lord Carloway, then Scotland's No2 judge. Lord Gill, the Lord President also spent five days on a £2,800 trip to Doha, Qatar, where he gave a speech on judicial ethics.

It came after he twice snubbed calls to appear in front of Holyrood's public petitions committee just 800 yards from his office.

Legal campaigner Peter Cherbi said: "Judges are supposed to sit in courts, not in jets."

The Judicial Office for Scotland also forked out public money for Lord Armstrong, Lord Boyd and Lady Dorrian to meet other European judges on a three-day trip to Luxembourg.

Lord Eassie travelled to legal events in St Gallen, Switzerland, and Yalta, Ukraine. Lady Clark spent four days in Tel Aviv, Israel, while Lord Hodge went to Paris.

Full details of overseas trips undertaken by Scottish judges are available here: Overseas Travel of Scotland’s Judges 2013-2014 & Judicial overseas trips & expenses claims 2010-2013

Access to justice failure shows Legal Aid victory on mortgage rights case could still mean your money or your house

A recent court victory in a case involving the use of the Mortgage Rights Act (Scotland) 2001 to challenge a repossession has resulted in lawyers claiming that legal aid will now be useless for mortgage rights case and that lawyers wont take on representing the public in similar legal actions.

The Mortgage Rights Act allows homeowners to challenge a lender repossessing their home, but you have to go to court to do it, and also of course you have to use a lawyer to get to court. If you do not have the money to pursue legal action, you may qualify for legal aid, but in turn, you need a lawyer to apply for that legal aid.If you win your case, generally the Legal Aid Board will not ask for its money back from you, although strangely enough, SLAB doesn't seem to want to pursue the mortgage lenders for recovery of funds ...

While the Scottish Legal Aid Board has not asked for money back in such cases since 2003, a recent BBC News report seems to indicate that SLAB may now be changing their policy, at the inspiration of some in the legal & financial professions no doubt, and want their money back from homeowners ...

Mike Dailly : Legal Aid now meaningless for mortgage repossession cases

Unfortunately for the public, the best suggestion from the legal profession in the report comes from solicitor Mike Dailly, of the Govan Law Centre, where he states that legal aid is now meaningless for mortgage repossession, with the report going on to say that solicitors will probably not take on such cases in the future.

A better suggestion perhaps then would be to call for the opening of the legal services market, to expand the availability of, and drive down the costs of legal representation to the public, so anyone who needs representation in such a case, and legal aid funding, can get it, without it reaching the costs currently associated with such actions.

Don't get me wrong about the Govan Law Centre, I'm all for what it does and how it helps people, but just a stones throw away from Mike Dailly's own house, a poor innocent woman has been systematically victimised and abused by a Housing Association in a long running campaign designed to ruin her health and her life, which has involved using lawyers to bully and harass the lady for years, even changing her secured tenancy into an assured tenancy, without any legal basis for doing so while the victimised tenant has been and is continually denied any access to proper legal representation and justice.

The innocent woman, who has been through much hardship and personal loss, has been held in sequestration for nearly a decade by a well known lawyer who is now a serving Sheriff, solely it would seem, on the basis of recovering legal costs from a negligence action against a firm of solicitors which the tenant lodged many years ago.

Many see the sequestration itself, which has run for nearly ten years, as an act of revenge for the tenant's bravery in making a claim of solicitors negligence against the infamously corrupt Law Society of Scotland's Master Insurance Policy, and within the tenant's case, the usual suspects of the Law Society appear - Chief Executive Douglas Mill, Director of Regulation Philip Yelland ... little wonder then that the poor victimised tenant is constantly being denied access to legal representation and justice , and her life continually being interdicted by members of Scotland's gallant legal profession who are just peachy about abusing the public when it suits ...

So, how about doing something Mr Dailly ?

Only a stones throw from your own house .. you should be able to manage it ? Could you manage to help a woman whose life is being blighted, abused, and ruined by a housing association and some of your colleagues in the legal profession, just so they can get their hands on her flat ? Surely access to justice should prevail and the lady's legal problems resolved to allow her to live in peace ?

Getting back to the BBC coverage of the Mortgage Rights case, the new report goes on to quote Cathy Craigie MSP, the MSP behind the Mortgage Rights Act, has written to Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to see if he will review the law to protect the public's rights & interests ... but with Mr MacAskill constantly bowing to big business and the professions recently, there may not be too much hope of that.

As for the Scottish Legal Aid Board - well, wouldn't they be better going after those financial institutions and lenders who lose these kinds of legal actions, rather than going after the homeowner who won the case ?

They have plenty of money anyway, so asking financially ruined homeowners to pay back the legal expenses who won the case, while allowing the lenders to escape paying the entire costs of the case seems to be a bit one sided.

Will the SNP and Justice Secretary MacAskill do something for homeowners in such cases or is this yet another step too far for Mr MacAskill in protecting the public from bullying lenders and a hungry legal profession ?

Levels of Lay Membership on new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission questioned as lawyers begin attempt to plant allies in positions

Even during this formation stage of the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, the likes of the Law Society of Scotland and the rest of the Scottish legal profession are certainly up to the mark on their dirty tricks campaign, this time, by 'putting the word out' to get friendly appointments to the "Lay Member" positions of the new independent SLCC, which will take the place of the Law Society of Scotland to independently manage, investigate & oversee the complaints process against crooked lawyers as mandated in the new Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007

Allegations are circulating that ex-Committee members of the Law Society of Scotland have been 'encouraged' to put in applications to join the new SLCC as "Lay Members" .. and with the Law Society not obliged to disclose any records of individuals who have served in such a capacity .. or even be related to those who have .. it will be a tricky procedure to weed out the 'planted' friends of the legal profession who make it to the "Lay Member" positions on the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

There are further 'anomalies' which have crept into the "Lay Member" appointments process ... just take a look at this rather strange development ...

Compare the following, which comes from the report of the Justice 2 Committee itself at the Scottish Parliament, proposing a "majority of SLCC will be lay persons appointed by Scottish Ministers unlike the comparator professions examined where professionals are in the majority "

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/justice2/reports-06/j2r06-11-Vol01-03.htm

It is proposed that a majority of SLCC will be lay persons appointed by Scottish Ministers, unlike the comparator professions examined where professionals are in the majority."

with this, which comes from the recruitment advertisement from the Scottish Executive itself :

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/SLCC-Members-06Jun07

Scottish Ministers require to appoint a Chairing Member and eight other Members, four of whom must be lawyers, to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) in consultation with the Lord President of the Court of Session.

Something very strange going on here then ... because a Committee stuffed by four lawyers, doesn't really meet up to the spirit of "a majority of lay persons", as mentioned in the Justice 2 Committee report ... where proposals seem to have been for two lawyer members rather than the now four ... where did the other two lawyer members come from ? .. lobbying from the legal profession ?

In fact, this ratio of lay members to lawyers, albeit as proposed in the new SLCC Committee, having a Chairing member who is not a lawyer, but paradoxically whose appointment is agreed to by the oh-so-impartial Lord President ... is getting near to the set up of the Complaints Committee framework of the Law Society of Scotland .. which itself has allowed swathes of crooked lawyers to go unpunished, ripping off everyone in sight and yet being allowed to continue in practice, giving some publicised examples from 5000 complaints a year against crooked lawyers in Scotland such as the following :

EXCLUSIVE : LAWYER SUED FOR £1MILLION & REVEALED: TOP LAWYER AT THE CENTRE OF 12 NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS &
Law Society of Scotland rejects complaint over estate ruined by huge legal fees & Scottish Legal Awards - Lawyer Lawyer on the wall, who is the most crooked of us all ? & Lawyer caught in media sting bribing clients to defraud Legal Aid Board - the tip of an iceberg .. to name but a few ...

There is of course, a problem with the Lay Member circuit - with many people on this cirtuit making it an industry for themselves to get placed on as many Committees as possible, and I covered these very dangerous revelations here :

Restrictions required on the interests of lay members in the world of self regulation Restrictions required on the interests of lay members in the world of self regulation

and as luck would have it, a demonstration of just how many of the various profession's corrupt self regulators are linked, the Herald newspaper revealed that ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland, were stuffing their own Committees with lawyers on the somewhat unbelievable argument of 'ensuring public interest'

I covered the revelations on the Committee placement tactics of the accountancy profession here : Fears over corrupt self regulation as accountants regulator draft in ex Law Society President and solicitor as Public Interest members.

Another excerpt from the Justice 2 Committee report tells us :

"While one can trust OCPAS to ensure that due process is observed, there is a prior issue as to how lay members emerge in the first place, newspaper advertisements seeming to be the usual method. The task is one of encouraging a wide and diverse range of people who do not have particular axes to grind. "

What & who exactly is that 'wide and diverse range of people who do not have particular axes to grind" ?

I hope we aren't going to get friends or relatives of those who serve on other Committees as so called "Lay Members" .. .or indeed, ex lay members of other regulatory Committees or those who have served the legal profession placed as lay members on the new SLCC .. .because if so, what justice will that bring ? .. none.

I think it's time the new Scottish Executive looked at the framework for these Committees and particularly the appointments of lay members, who you can see, certainly seem to proliferate themselves onto as many positions as possible - amazingly without the issues of conflict of interest ever cropping up - where in any other walk of life, it certainly would.

How about having actual victims of injustice on these Committees as lay members - or at least as oversight members, to ensure the voice of the public and the very victims themselves is heard over those of people who would rather appease their friends in the professions and pick up a few awards & decorations for doing so over the years.

I say - reduce the lawyer membership to two .. we don't need four bullying lawyers lobbying for their colleagues in the legal profession on the Committee of the new independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, just as they have done so for all those years at the Law Society of Scotland ...

Here is the recruiting advertisement for the lay member positions of the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

If you have had bad experience at the hands of the Law Society of Scotland and crooked lawyers, maybe you should put in an application to join ! ... or at least write to the new Scottish Executive asking that the process be a lot more transparent than it seems to be at the moment.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/SLCC-Members-06Jun07

SCOTTISH LEGAL COMPLAINTS COMMISSION (SLCC) - APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRING MEMBER AND MEMBERS

Scottish Ministers require to appoint a Chairing Member and eight other Members, four of whom must be lawyers, to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) in consultation with the Lord President of the Court of Session.

The SLCC will be established by the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007. The main functions of the Commission are to resolve complaints alleging inadequate professional service or negligence, to refer complaints which allege professional misconduct or unsatisfactory professional conduct to the relevant professional body and to promote good practice in complaints handling.

Scottish Ministers expect the Commission to be operational in late 2008 and the appointment of the Commission members will be made in Autumn 2007.

Remuneration: £298 per day for the Chairing Member.

£202 per day for the position of Member.

Travel and subsistence costs and reasonable receipted childcare and dependent carer expenses directly related to the Commission's work will be reimbursed. Any pension provision will be a matter for the Commission itself to determine with the approval of the Scottish Ministers.

Time commitment: Initially 4-6 days a month for the Chairing Member while the Commission is being established. This may reduce when the Commission is in full operation. Other Members are likely to serve up to 4 days a month.

Location of meetings: Normally at the Commission, the location of which will be decided by Scottish Ministers.

Chairing Member

The Chairing Member will be appointed for 5 years and can not be a lawyer. Under statute, appointments are not renewable on expiry. The Scottish Ministers seek to appoint a Chairing Member who has a successful track record in leading the strategic development of an organisation (in the pubic, private or voluntary sectors), and would particularly welcome applicants with skills and knowledge of setting up and leading a new organisation or leading an established organisation through a substantial change programme. Applicants for Chairing Member should also meet the criteria set out below for non-lawyer Members and the general criteria.

Lawyer Members

Two Lawyer Members will be appointed for 4 years and two for 6 years in order to ensure that new appointments are staggered. Under statute, appointments are not renewable on expiry.

The Lawyer Members must be either a solicitor, advocate or conveyancing or executry practitioner or have acquired rights to conduct litigation or a right of audience by virtue of section 27 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990. Three Lawyer Members must have practised in one of these categories, or any combination of them. One Lawyer Member must fall into the specified categories but need not have actively practised. In selecting Members, particularly but not exclusively Lawyer Members, the Scottish Ministers are to have regard to the desirability of including:

* Persons who have experience of, and have shown capacity in, the practice and provision of legal education and training;
* Persons who have experience of, and have shown capacity in
* (a) civil or criminal proceedings;
* (b) court procedures and practice generally;
* (c) the practice and provision of other legal services;
* (d) the monitoring of legal services.

Non-lawyer Members

Two non-lawyer Members will be appointed for 4 years and two for 6 years in order to ensure that new appointments are staggered. Under statute, appointments are not renewable on expiry.

There are no specific qualifications for appointment of non-lawyer Members. In appointing Members, the Scottish Ministers are to have regard to the desirability of including:

* Persons who have experience of and have shown capacity in
* (a) consumer affairs or complaints handling;
* (b) the provision of advice to members of the public on or in relation to such matters.

General criteria

In addition, the Scottish Ministers will have regard to the desirability of including Members, whether lawyers or not, who together have sufficient knowledge at senior level of corporate governance. The Scottish Ministers will seek to select a balanced Commission, offering collectively, skills and knowledge in human resources, finance and information technology, change management, diversity issues, and customer service.

For an information pack and application form please see the contact details below. Application packs are available in alternative formats on request. You should provide your name, address and the vacancy that you are interested in.

Public Appointments, PO Box 26867, Glasgow G4 7BG

Telephone: 0870 240 1818

Fax: 0870 600 4111

E-mail: publicappointments@response-handling.com

SMS text message: 0796 013 3181

Closing date for applications is 6th July 2007.

Appointments to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission are regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland. All applicants must complete and submit the application form contained in the application pack in order for it to be considered for appointment. Please note that application forms sent electronically will be in Word format and, if returning electronically, will only be accepted in that format.

The Scottish Executive is committed to equality of opportunity and encouraging a diverse range of applicants for public appointments, reflecting the best of contemporary Scotland and to the principle of public appointments on merit with independent assessment, openness and transparency of process. For more information about public appointments and other vacancies visit the Scottish Executive's website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/government/publicbodies.

oh .. and if to emphasise the Law Society of Scotland and Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal are still letting crooked lawyers off the hook and able to continue making money from unsuspecting clients .. here's another recent article from the Sunday Mail :

LAWYER GUILTY : Watchdogs say he sold homes for drug accused But he escapes with £5k fine and dodges ban
By Russell Findlay

A LAWYER has been rapped for helping an alleged drug-dealer sell three homes before they could be seized by Customs in a dirty money probe.

Legal watchdogs found Robert Thomas guilty of professional misconduct for disposing of property owned by Michael Beacom.

But the dodgy brief escaped with a £5000 fine and still works as a solicitor.

A damning finding by the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal states: "The tribunal considered that a solicitor in these circumstances must have thought that what he was being asked to do was attempting to assist someone in the commission of a crime.

"The tribunal considered that this was a grave offence in that the respondent proceeded either with the knowledge of what he was doing or with recklessness.

"For a solicitor to attempt to assist a client to commit a criminal offence is extremely reprehensible conduct."

Beacom was jailed for six years over a cannabis haul seized by Customs, though the conviction was later quashed.

Before his trial, Customs investigators visited Thomas, 58, with a court order demanding access to his client's files.

The order was designed to prevent solicitors disposing of a criminal's assets which could be seized.

But when Customs returned to Thomas' old firm, Robert Thomas &Caplan, they found a flat in Argyle Street, Glasgow, had been sold.

And a cottage near Helensburgh and a share of a flat in Glasgow's west end had been transferred to Beacom's brother.

The lawyer's actions led to him facing trial on money laundering charges four years ago.

During the trial, Bruce Ritchie, director of professional practice for the Law Society, said: "He should not have acted in the details of any property disposition for this client.

"My professional opinion would have been not to have touched this case. He should have known better."

Sheriff Rita Rae ruled there was not enough evidence and threw the case out.

Law Society chiefs launched their own probe but despite finding Thomas guilty of helping dispose of criminal assets, the tribunal did not have him struck off.

Instead he was fined £5000 and ordered to have his worked supervised by his employers until 2011.

Thomas, now working for Campbell Sievewright & Co in Glasgow, last night refused to comment.

Lawyer caught in media sting bribing clients to defraud Legal Aid Board - the tip of an iceberg

Proving that sometimes, the press can get a crooked lawyer or two, the Daily Record earlier this week, exposed a Glasgow Solicitor, Mr Robert Taylor, who runs his own legal firm in Bath Street Glasgow, who apparently was giving clients money to illicit legal aid business by handing out cash for them to sign legal aid claim forms.

However, what Mr Taylor did, is more common than even the Daily Record knows,... because this kind of scam has been reported to me several times over the years I've been involved in legal matters, up and down the length of Scotland.

For instance, I know of a criminal law practising lawyer in Kelso, the Scottish Borders who, it has been reported to me, has certainly paid a few 'quality clients' to generate legal aid business .. a big wheel himself as he likes to think, in the Roxburghshire Bar Association .. but hated, by many of his own colleagues, who are only too willing to dish the dirt on his business practices. .. but one of many I'm sure.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board have apparently confirmed to the Daily Record they will investigate the matter ... although a SLAB investigation against a lawyer usually ends up in a fiddle, where nothinc gets done.

I've been involved in investigations into lawyers fiddling legal aid cases myself, where evidence comes & goes right out the window & nothing is done whatsoever, principally because of course - lawyers don't like to prosecute their colleagues and with their neighbours across the road - the Law Society of Scotland .. many a lawyer who has fiddled a few legal aid cases to boost his/her income has got off scot free .. a total disgrace ..

The Law Society of Scotland are a bit lukewarm in the Record story though ... no doubt they will be upset of the revelations in the first place .. particularly when the Law Society itself had authorised a family law case boycott campaign against the Scottish Executive over legal aid payments, which of course, lawyers up and down the length of Scotland were alleging were not enough to cover their work. It might turn out, if the Record keeps enough pressure on Taylor, the Law Society will have to do something .. but we shall see. Maybe Douglas Mill doesn't want an office full of heroin users so he might be content for Taylor to carry on practising ...

However, I wonder how Taylor's little scam - which is widespread in the legal profession .. will fit into that campaign now ?

Read on for the article, from the Daily Record, at :
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=bung-to-rights%26method=full%26objectid=18055457%26siteid=66633-name_page.html

7 November 2006
BUNG TO RIGHTS

Record exposes lawyer who dishes out fivers to addicts for legal aid work
Exclusive by Derek Alexander

A LAWYER who bribes junkies to give him legal aid work is facing a fraud probe.

Legal Aid bosses began a probe after the Daily Record gathered evidence of greedy Robert Taylor's actions.

Taylor, 58, a solicitor for more than 30 years, dishes out £5 notes to heroin users who sign legal aid documents.

Each of the documents - known as advice and assistance forms - earns Taylor up to £80.

He also pays addicts to bring new clients to his Glasgow city centre office to sign more of the lucrative forms.

Taylor's shady practice is a serious breach of both Law Society of Scotland and Scottish Legal Aid Board codes of conduct.

It could see him face criminal charges and be banned from working as a solicitor.

One legal source said: "This is a clear abuse of the system and it must be stopped.

"Taylor is a man whose integrity is supposed to be beyond question. It's shocking that he should take advantage of his trusted position."

Married Taylor runs his own law firm from an office in Glasgow's Bath Street.

The Record decided to investigate after learning he paid members of the public who signed advice and assistance documents indicating they had asked him to perform warrant searches.

The simple task involves a lawyer checking with the procurator fiscal whether a warrant has been issued for a client's arrest.

Three of our investigators visited him a total of seven times during a two-week period and walked away with cash on each occasion.

Their meetings with Taylor, during which he did not bother to check if the investigators were even eligible for legal aid, were secretly recorded.

On several occasions, Taylor got our reporters to sign more than one form.

A solicitor can claim a fee of up to £80 from the Scottish Legal Aid Board each time a client signs one of the pink documents, known officially as AA/APP forms.

SLAB bosses rarely examine the forms because solicitors are trusted not to abuse a self-certificate system.

Investigator One visited Taylor at his office while he was on a break from court and asked him to perform a warrant check.

Taylor then passed a folded £5 note to the investigator and said: "That'll cover your expenses."

As our man was leaving the office, Taylor followed him out to the landing and said: "Tell your pals to come up if they've got any citations or indictments, things like that."

Our investigator asked: "You want me to bring guys up to you?"

Taylor replied: "You can act as my agent, know what I mean?"

Investigator Two then visited Taylor and also asked him to perform a warrant search.

Again, Taylor reached into his left pocket and handed him a neatly folded fiver and said: "There you go."

The pair then discussed whether Taylor wanted our man to also bring him new clients.

Taylor replied: "Of course."

Our man asked: "Would there be something in it for me?"

Taylor said: "Yes. But we'd judge each case on its own merits."

As Taylor showed our man to the door, he repeated twice: "It's all confidential."

Both our investigators visited Taylor again.

Investigator Two asked him: "Do you want me to sign one of those forms?"

Taylor replied: "Can't. The last one is still lying on my desk but there's your expenses anyway."

Taylor then handed our man another fiver.

The Record sent a third and final investigator to Taylor's office this week.

Posing as a new client, our reporter was introduced to Taylor by Investigator Two. Taylor took Investigator Two into his office and asked about Investigator Three's background.

He then gave Investigator Two a £10 note and said: "There's a double dose for you."

Taylor then took Investigator Three into his office and gave him an advice and assistance form after being asked to do a warrant check.

He then reached into his pocket and gave him a folded £5 note.

He said: "Thanks for coming up, that will cover your expenses for getting here."

The Record has all the cash that Taylor handed to our investigators in safe keeping.

A source said: "Robert has done so many warrant checks for me I couldn't even begin to give an accurate figure.

"It's well known round Glasgow's drug addicts that he's good for money.

"All you have to do is sign a form and he'll give you the cash.

"He always makes sure you put the money in your pocket before you leave his office.

"I've been in to see Robert twice a week for warrant checks before.

"Robert is just making more money from legal aid and he keeps addicts happy by giving them a fiver.

"He's taking advantage of their addiction and the legal aid system to make more money for himself."

Last year, Scotland's legal aid bill topped £152million. Experts say next year's figure will reach £168million.

And lawyers such as Taylor have helped make sure this rockets.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board make it clear that solicitors cannot offer inducements, even expenses, for business.

But Taylor, who lives with his wife in Bearsden, Glasgow, clearly ignores this rule.

Our evidence has been made available to the Scottish Legal Aid Board and the Law Society of Scotland.

Last night, a SLAB spokesman said: "The Scottish Legal Aid Board has confirmed that it will be investigating information provided by the Daily Record about solicitor Robert Taylor.

"We thank the Record for bringing this to our attention.

"We take allegations such as this very seriously. The board has an ongoing programme of monitoring and investigating legal aid expenditure involving both applicants and the legal profession.

"Under its powers, it can stop solicitors undertaking criminal legal aid work.

"Where it has concerns about lawyers, it has made formal complaints to the appropriate regulatory body. It may also forward cases to the Crown Office for consideration of police investigation or prosecution."

A Law Society of Scotland spokesman said: "The Society takes accusations of breaches of professional rules seriously and would welcome information about concerns people have about a solicitor.

"The society can prosecute solicitors before the independent Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal for breaches of its rules and there are a number of sanctions available."

Taylor refused to comment.