Magic Circle Scandal Solicitor David Blair Wilson sentenced to 4 years for smuggling drugs & mobile phones into jail

Solicitor David Blair Wilson sentenced to four years for smuggling drugs into jail. DAVID BLAIR WILSON, a crooked solicitor well known for his part in the Magic Circle affair which exposed a sex-for-justice scandal involving liaisons between rent boys and the most senior members of Scotland’s judiciary & Crown Office, was sentenced yesterday to four years in jail for attempting to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into Saughton Prison during October 2011.

Blair Wilson, 55, of 46 Edgar Street, Dunfermline, was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh last month after a six day jury trial which heard the solicitor attempt to blame a younger male friend, identified as Steven Douglas who Blair Wilson told the jury was a drug dealer and who regarded Blair Wilson as a “surrogate dad”.

The trial saw dramatic CCTV footage of plain clothes police officers blocking any attempt by Blair Wilson to drive away in his silver hatchback after making an exit from prison buildings. Police then led him away in handcuffs.A search of the solicitor’s car uncovered mobile phones, diazepam tablets - worth up to £2800 at inflated prison prices, and cannabis resin with a prison value of £4000 along with other contraband items.

Passing sentence, Judge Lord Jones said: "The illegal drugs were intended for onward supply within the prison. The misuse of drugs in prison is a well-recognised problem to which you were intent on contributing.You knew that as a solicitor visiting a client in prison you were in a privileged position. You cynically abused the privilege you had been given and abused the trust placed in you." The judge added that the smuggling attempt was a well-planned operation.

Defence advocate Susan Duff, asking for leniency, paid tribute to Blair Wilson as a solicitor. She told the court : "He has had a long and successful career in the law, a career built on hard work and a deeply committed attitude of care for his clients … He always tried to ensure that those caught up in the criminal justice system felt they had been treated fairly…”

Susan Duff added: "Blair Wilson was a man for whom nothing was too much trouble.Now he knew he would never work again in that profession.He accepts your lordship must impose a custodial sentence and it is difficult to look to the end of that sentence. His life, as he knew it, came to an end on October 6 2011."

The trial heard of a bizarre triangle involving the solicitor, a heroin-addicted drug dealer he befriended more than a decade ago when he was a homeless teenager and a samurai-sword wielding thug. It was also evidence that detectives had been waiting to ambush Blair Wilson as he came out of Saughton Prison, but nothing was said during the trial about what, or who, had prompted their suspicions. On the day he was caught the solicitor had arranged to visit Lee Brown, 35, who told the trial he was serving a total of 18.5 years - a sentence for attempted murder dating back to 2004 with "a few bits and bobs" added since then.

CCTV footage showed Blair Wilson arriving at the Saughton jail carrying a bulging folder which contained the drugs, steamed into pages of A4 paper. Prison officer Graham Robertson, 25, described how he checked Blair Wilson's ID and his colleague told the solicitor his folder had to be scanned. Mr Robertson said : "He became quite anxious looking, began to sort of fidget. His body language changed slightly,"

Blair Wilson returned, briefly, to his car then came back into the prison vestibule.This time his file was noticeably thinner.In the witness box, Blair Wilson said the suspect packages, the contents masked by white paper inside heat-sealed laminated envelopes,were nothing to do with him.

He said Steven Douglas, the youth he had befriended who regarded him as a mentor and surrogate dad must have put them under the driver's seat when he borrowed the car the previous evening. There were 19 fingerprints on the packages which matched those of Mr Douglas. Not a single one matched Blair Wilson's prints. Mr Douglas should have appeared as a witness, but when asked where he was, Blair Wilson replied: "I wish I knew."

A jury's majority verdict convicted Blair Wilson of attempting to smuggle three mobile phones, three SIM cards along with two chargers and two earphones into the jail. He was also found guilty, by majority, of being concerned in the supply of cannabis resin, diazepam and body-building drugs, in particular to Lee Brown. During the trial, charges of breaching the Prisons (Scotland) Act by introducing drugs into the jail were dropped.

Today, Lord Jones said he was taking into account Blair Wilson was a first offender who also suffered from serious health problems. The judge added "Whilst I take these matters into consideration, it has to be recognised that you chose to commit these offences and did this with your eyes open, knowing what the risks were and the consequences if you were caught."

Philip Yelland, Head of Regulation at the Law Society of Scotland. Reacting to the sentencing of Blair Wilson, the Law Society of Scotland’s Director of Regulation, Philip Yelland, issued a Press Release & comment stating : Former solicitor, David Blair-Wilson was today, Friday 17 May, sentenced to four  years in prison at Edinburgh High Court. The length of sentence means that he faces automatic prosecution before the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal. Mr Blair-Wilson has not held a practicing certificate which would allow him to work as a solicitor since October 2011.

In the job for 23 years too long, Mr Yelland, commented : "Solicitors are expected to maintain the highest standards both in their professional and personal lives. They are bound by rules including rules about their conduct, and serious criminal convictions are a breach of these rules. We will get official notice of the sentence from the authorities, which will allow us to raise a formal complaint which enables us to take a prosecution to the independent Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal."

Sex for justice scandal involved Scottish Judges & male hookers, forced resignation of Lord Dervaird while others escaped. Scottish Law Reporter has featured coverage of the Magic Circle in earlier article HERE and also featured a report on the former Lord Advocate now Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (born McPhilomy) key role in what was known at the time as Operation Planet, the drive to catch crooked judges & prosecutors who were swapping boys for favours in Scottish Courts, HERE

Lord Nimmo Smith QC’s REPORT ON MAGIC CIRCLE GAY JUSTICE SCANDAL, widely regarded by many as a whitewash of the corruption in the Scottish judiciary, identifies Dame Elish Angiolini who worked at the Crown Office at the time as a Senior Legal Assistant, under her maiden mane of Elish McPhilomy. It was clear from subsequent discussions, the report played a heavy part in formulating Crown Office policy on the prosecution of judges, lawyers & other members of the legal profession who were engaging in the illegal sex acts with other men & under age boys.

Shame for Crown Office & Lord Advocate as former Procurator Fiscal Stuart MacFarlane admits downloading child porn, added to sex offenders register

Silence from Crown Office after former prosecutor admits downloading child porn A  FORMER PROCURATOR FISCAL DEPUTE who served under ex-Lord Advocate now Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (born McPhilomy) at Scotland’s Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) is facing a possible custodial sentence after he ADMITTED downloading indecent images of children. Scottish Law Reporter earlier reported on the case in January of this year HERE

Stuart MacFarlane (45) from Glasgow was caught with at least 15,000 images of child pornography on computer equipment at his home after Police succeeded in gaining a search warrant to raid his premises and seize computer equipment.

Images seized by Police showed acts of a sexual nature against minors, and also pictures of sexual acts with animals. However, despite the severity of evidence seized, and the ex Procurator Fiscal’s admitting to downloading the material, sentence on MacFarlane was deferred at Paisley Sheriff Court although his name was placed on the sex offenders register.

The current Lord Advocate, Frank Mulholland, and the Crown Office have issued no statement or comment on the case and MacFarlane’s admission to downloading child porn and no details have yet been made public on how the admitted paedophile obtained the material or from whom. However, a Police source has said further action related to the case could follow.

A legal insider at COPFS has come forward this afternoon and told Scottish Law Reporter there have been other cases swept under the carpet of prosecutors, staff and former members of COPFS staff who were also found to be in possession of inappropriate images of children.

It is thought current & former COPFS staff thought to be involved in activities similar to MacFarlane have accessed such images through contact with online paedophile rings and in one worrying case, it has been revealed that evidence seized by Police in one case, was found on personal computer equipment of another prosecutor who has since stood down from his position yet has not faced criminal charges.

The now shamed ex Procurator Fiscal Stuart MacFarlane escaped prosecution for earlier charges of indecency with a prostitute while serving under Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, the Crown Office claiming at the time “it was not in the public interest” to prosecute the former prosecutor who has now admitted to being a paedophile.

Daily Mail newspaper reports the story :

Disgraced fiscal faces prison over child porn

Daily Mail Reporter

A FORMER depute fiscal whose career was overshad­owed by reports he had sex with a prostitute is facing jail after admitting downloading indecent images of children.

Father-of-two Stuart Macfar­lane, 45, spent hours hidden away from his family in a garden hut kept for his exclusive use.

When detectives raided the property in Eaglesham, Renfrew­shire, last December, they went to the shed on which there was a plaque saying 'Dad's Den'.

They seized two laptops, one of which had an external storage device, and took them away for forensic examination.

Paisley Sheriff Court was told Macfarlane was detained and questioned after being medically examined, as it was known he had previously claimed to be suffering from post traumatic stress disor­der after Iraq War service as a Territorial Army captain.

Procurator fiscal Laura McPherson said almost 15,000 still images were found on the computer equipment. The majority were of children in erotic poses.

Others involved sexual activity between children and adults, sadism and bestiality. There were also 184 moving images showing sexual activity involving children or children and adults.

Deferring sentence for reports, Sheriff James Spy warned him: 'The court must be considering the question of custody.'

The heard that Macfarlane, whose address was given as Mount Florida, Glasgow, is cur­rently employed as a contractor in Afghanistan.

BBC News also reported on the case here :

Ex-prosecutor Stuart MacFarlane had indecent images

A former prosecutor is facing a prison term after he admitted downloading indecent images of children. Stuart MacFarlane, 45, from Glasgow, was caught with almost 15,000 images at his former family home in Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire, on 28 December 2012. Sentence on MacFarlane was deferred at Paisley Sheriff Court and his name was placed on the sex offenders' register.

A case against the ex-depute procurator fiscal, after he was allegedly caught with a prostitute, was dropped in 2006.

The court heard how police, acting under a search warrant, searched MacFarlane's then family home at the end of last year. They seized two laptops and an external hard drive from an outside shed, which had a plaque outside stating "Dad's Den".

After the computer equipment had been fully analysed, it was discovered that there were almost 15,000 still images. Some showed children posing alone, others showed sexual activity between children and adults, while others featured an animal. The girls involved in the images are thought to have ranged from three to 14 years of age.

MacFarlane, who now lives in Mount Florida, Glasgow, later admitted downloading the images between March and December last yea

BBC News reported on the earlier case involving dropped charges against MacFarlane, here : Fiscal indecency charge dropped

The case against a prosecutor allegedly caught with a prostitute has been dropped because "it was not in the public interest" to proceed to trial.

Stuart MacFarlane, 37, a principal procurator fiscal depute in Glasgow, was arrested after a police function. He faced indecency and resisting arrest charges and resigned from the Crown Office earlier this month. Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the case would not proceed after "changes to his situation and medical reports".

It was alleged that Mr MacFarlane and Joanna Crane, 27, had been caught by police while she was performing a sex act on him. The offences were alleged to have taken place in Bothwell Street on 29 October.

David Spiers, procurator fiscal at Hamilton, told Glasgow Sheriff Court: "Mr MacFarlane's lawyer has advised of changes in his situation. "Considering this and specialist medical reports it would not be in the public interest to proceed further with this case."

The charge against Ms Crane was also dropped. She had pleaded not guilty to committing an offence of public indecency by engaging in a sexual act in a public place.

Mr McFarlane, who lives near Eaglesham, had not tendered a plea.

Police called in to investigate DWF Biggart Baillie’s Banking & Finance head solicitor Grant Docherty, fined £7.5K by Discipline Tribunal over ‘crazed’ threats made to client

Top Banking specialist lawyer Grant Docherty found guilty of threatening client. SOLICITOR GRANT DOCHERTY, currently the head of Banking & Finance at DWF Biggart Baillie has been found GUILTY of PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT and fined £7,500 by the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) after it emerged Police were called in to investigate threats he made against a client over a cancelled property transaction.

Evidence presented to the SSDT and included in complaints made to the Law Society of Scotland revealed that solicitor Docherty (aged 49), who is currently head of the Banking & Finance team at DWF Biggart Baillie said Robert Rankin would be ripped “to shreds” after failing to come up money for a house purchase. The Discipline Tribunal also heard that Docherty, 49, sent his client a string of abusive texts including one which warned: “I’ll come after you with everything I have.” A further text said: “This is personal. You’re a liar and the worst sort of human being.”

The mountain of threats from Docherty, who is recommended by the Law Society to clients who need legal advice on banking matters, began when a client, a Mr Rankin of Hamilton, revealed he could no longer buy a house in Troon, Ayrshire, from Mr Docherty’s widowed father. Docherty’s colleagues at Biggart Baillie then launched legal action against Rankin. A few days later, Docherty rang the lawyer handling the case.

Acting for the Law Society of Scotland, the Prosecuting Fiscal, Paul Marshall, told a Scottish Solicitor’s Discipline tribunal in Edinburgh: “He said he would rip Robert Rankin to shreds.” Prosecutor Mr Marshall went on to tell the Discipline Tribunal that some of Docherty’s 33 vile messages, which had been sent between December 2010 and January 2011, were seen by the client’s young son. One of the messages said Docherty would “ensure” Robert was “destroyed”.

Docherty only stopped threatening his client, who had been put in a state of fear & alarm by the solicitor’s actions, when Police were called in. Complaints were then made to the Law Society of Scotland who brought the prosecution of Docherty before the Tribunal hearing in April where the solicitor was fined £7,500 after being found guilty of professional misconduct. It was reported the Tribunal chairman Alistair Cockburn said at the hearing : “The expressions used were unfitting of a solicitor.”

However, it has emerged tonight that the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal have secretly discussed the case with a view to refrain from publishing some of the more threatening texts sent by the solicitor, which a well placed legal insider claims are allegedly of “a violent nature”.

The legal insider said : “The SSDT have a duty to ensure the public be given a true picture of Mr Docherty’s conduct towards his client and this can only be achieved by publishing all the communications from the solicitor to his client in their entirety in the Tribunal’s final report.”

As of this evening, the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal have suspiciously failed to publish its decision on the prosecution of Docherty which took place nearly a month ago.

No one from the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal could be contacted for comment, and a spokesperson for the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service told a Scottish Law Reporter journalist they were unable to say whether Mr Docherty was being investigated at this time by themselves or the Police. Neither Docherty or Mr Rankin could be reached for further comment.

Docherty does not mention the incident on his Linkedin page, which states “I am head of the Banking & Finance team at DWF Biggart Baillie. I have built up over 22 years experience in the banking and finance sector working for well known Hong Kong and Scottish commercial law firms during which time I have played a key role in a range of high profile international and cross-border transactions. I trained in Scotland and left the country in 1990 to pursue my career in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Biggart Baillie, I established and led DLA Piper's Banking and Finance team in Hong Kong.”

Docherty, who lists golf, cricket, skiing and travel as his enjoyments, goes on to say : “My practice covers a broad range of banking and finance work, including bilateral and syndicated loans, property finance, asset finance, acquisition finance, project finance, structured finance and securitisation, banking regulation, equipment leasing, banking product development and documentation, bank mergers and acquisitions and debt restructuring. My clients have included banks and financial institutions, leasing companies, corporate borrowers, shipping companies and financial services and banking regulator”

The Scottish Sun newspaper reported on the prosecution of Docherty here : Raging lawyer’s threat over cancelled house deal

Police Scotland asked to investigate collapsed Scottish bank HBoS for evidence of fraud & corruption after Thames Valley Police charge eight with money laundering, fraud

Police Scotland asked to investigate corruption at HBoS. POLICE SCOLTAND have been asked to investigate Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) now known as Lloyds Banking group, after complaints were lodged with the force by former HBoS shareholder & transparency campaigner, Mr Thomas Minogue. Dunfermline based Mr Minogue, who met officers from Police Scotland recently, is demanding an investigation into any fraud & corruption at the bank in the events preceding the financial crisis.

While there have been little inquiries into corruption at HBOS in Scotland prior to yesterday’s developments, the collapsed bank HBoS has been under investigation by Thames Valley Police as part of “Operation Hornet” which has recently seen eight people charged with criminal offences ranging from money laundering to fraudulent trading and conspiracy to corrupt, following a large-scale investigation into Corruption and other offences originating from the Halifax Bank of Scotland branch in Reading, Berkshire.

The charges in England, reported by Thames Valley Police HERE follow an investigation carried out by the Force’s Economic Crime Unit (ECU), after the case was referred to Thames Valley Police by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) because the alleged offences originated from HBOS’s Impaired Assets team based at Reading.

However, no equivalent investigation has been undertaken by Police in Scotland, prompting concerns Scottish prosecutors at the Crown Office are trying to avoid any major investigation into a well known culture of corruption in Scotland’s banking & financial sector.

Scotland’s Sunday Post newspaper reports further on the developments in an article reprinted below :

POLICE LAUNCH HBOS PROBE

EXCLUSIVE

By Andrew Picken Sunday Post 5 May 2013

A POLICE probe has been launched into the running of Scotland's oldest bank in the build up to the financial crisis.

An angry former HBoS shareholder has lodged a complaint with Police Scotland in the wake of a damning Westminster report that warned a "culture of perilously high-risk lend­ing" at the bank led to its downfall.

Thousands of Scots shareholders were left out of pocket when HBoS collapsed in 2008 before being bailed out by the taxpayer for £20 billion.

Dunfermline-based Thomas Minogue met with senior detectives from the economic crime unit last week to demand an investigation into any fraud or corruption at the bank in the years before its collapse.

It is understood officers will now contact a similar operation in England known as Operation Hornet to see if there any Scottish leads.

The development comes just days after Lib Dem business secretary Vince Cable urged the Crown Office to speed up an investigation into whether any legal action should be taken against those responsible for the near collapse of RBS.

Mr Minogue, who has a small stake in the bank now known as Lloyds Banking Group, said he wanted to make a stand for the "thousands who had shares as a nest egg but have seen this wiped out".

The retired engineering firm owner said: "I find it remarkable that so many years on none of the people in charge of this catastrophe have been held to account.

"Huge mistakes were made and I think the police have a moral duty to establish if any criminality or fraud took place, specifically in the years building up to 2008 when it was clear the rot was setting in.

"There must be thousands of ordi­nary people who have lost their life savings because of this but wouldn't dare complain."

It is understood officers from the Police Scotland economic crime unit will now liaise with colleagues at Thames Valley police which has been conducting a two-year investigation into corruption and other offences originating from an HBoS branch in Reading, Berkshire.

Mr Minogue is also planning to raise the issue at Lloyds Banking Group's AGM later this month in Edinburgh.

He will ask bank bosses to back his call for a police investigation and ask them to preserve all documentation they hold for any such inquiry.

Mr Minogue is also planning on rais­ing the issue of a £12 million "interest free" loan issued to a company owned by the Bank of Scotland's former chief executive and Dunfermline athletic owner Gavin Masterton.

Details of the £12.2m debt — secured against the Fife club's East End Park stadium — show the 71-year-old's company does not have to make a repayment until 2043.

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards last month concluded that "toxic" misjudgements at HBoS, stretching back years, had let to its downfall.

Patrick Harvie MSP, Co-convener of the Scottish Greens, said: "It's bizarre that those who presided over this disaster aren't prevented from working in a sector that they so badly damaged."

It is understood officers from the economic crime unit are now look­ing into the complaint made by Mr Minogue and will take a decision on whether to launch a formal investiga­tion in due course.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: "Officers recently visited Mr Minogue and discussed his concerns."

A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group pointed out that neither Bank of Scotland nor its parent company is the subject of the Operation Hornet investigation but declined to comment further.

Proceeds of Crime seizures & Cashback for Communities £80m ‘success’ wiped out by £1Billion cost of Crown Office & staff ‘bonus culture’ over last decade

Lord Advocate & Crown Office receive £100million annual funding. PROCEEDS OF CRIME legislation created in 2003 by the then Scottish Executive, has, according to claims made by Scotland’s Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in its latest 2012-2013 annual report on the activities of the Civil Recovery Unit, (CRU) netted around £80 million seized from criminals. However, legal observers have questioned the reliability of the figures provided in the report, which in some cases, relies on “questionable accounting”, ‘staged payments’ from crooked companies, and “speculative figures” relating to cases yet to be decided in the courts.

Unsurprisingly, a fact NOT DISCLOSED in the report is that the total asset seizures announced by the Crown Office yesterday, actually amount to much less than even 10% of the total running cost of the Crown Office over the past ten years, put at a staggering ONE BILLION POUNDS over the last decade, a cost which also includes MASSIVE bonus payments totalling HALF A MILLION POUNDS in just two years, to Crown Office staff and prosecutors.

In the past year, the Crown Office claims about £12m was taken from people involved in activities such as drug dealing, human trafficking and benefit fraud with around £8m of the 2012/13 total coming from convicted criminals. The remaining £4m comes from cash and assets seized through civil court orders. The Crown Office claimed the Proceeds of Crime (Scotland) Act 2002 had become a "powerful tool" against crime.

Solicitor General Lesley Thomson Solicitor General Lesley Thomson QC, who announced the figures, said: "By full use of the proceeds of crime legislation, law enforcement can strike at the very heart of criminality in Scotland to ensure that criminal networks big and small are disrupted and dismantled.

"My message is clear - if you try to make a profit from crime, the Crown will use this legislation to the maximum to take that profit from you and ensure it is put it to a much better use in communities across Scotland through the Scottish government's CashBack scheme."

However, the Solicitor General made no reference to the Bonus culture at the Crown Office which has richly rewarded those involved in prosecutions & asset recovery efforts over the years, reported by the media revealing payments totalling £580,000 to Crown Office staff. Media reports also revealed that former Lord Advocate from 2006-2011, Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (born McPhilomy) received a taxpayer funded £28,000 ‘golden goodbye’ deal after leaving her job, reported HERE

Since the media report exposing Crown Office bonuses, the practice has been dropped in favour of inflated salaries and generous expenses allowances in an effort to get round further adverse publicity.

Over the last 10 years around £50m has been seized by the Crown Office's Serious and Organised Crime Division (SOCD), which deals with the confiscation of proceeds of crime following a conviction. The remaining £30.5m was secured by the Civil Recovery Unit, headed by Ruaraidh MacNiven, who formerly worked for Lord President Lord Hamilton.The CRU, which has been criticised in court by judges for providing dodgy evidence on previous occasions, can recover proceeds of crime through the civil courts without the need for a criminal conviction.

Commenting further on the figures released in the report, Lindsey Miller, head of the Crown Office's Serious and Organised Crime Division said the £80m that had been seized could otherwise have been reinvested in criminal enterprises.

She said : "We have not become complacent in our success. Crime evolves and we must evolve with it. In the last year alone, we have seen successful confiscation orders against people who have participated in all types of crime, including drug dealing, selling counterfeit goods, embezzlement, human trafficking and benefit fraud. We will continue to use our experience and expertise to maximise disruption to criminal enterprises."

In the past financial year, around £4.3 million was netted from those involved in the so-called "black fish" cases, relating to large-scale undeclared landings of fish in the north of Scotland. Confiscation orders totalling £4,314,290 were made last year against a number of vessel skippers, as well as Shetland Catch Ltd and Fresh Catch Ltd.

James Mangan, 54, Robert Robb, 65, and Craig Hunter, 41, all members of an organised crime network involved in importing Class A drugs, which was unearthed by Strathclyde Police's Operation Trust have also been targeted for asset seizures.

The Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) will eventually recover £5.6m after Aberdeen-based drilling company Abbot Group Ltd accepted it had benefited from corrupt payments made in connection with a 2006 contract entered into by one of its overseas subsidiaries and an overseas oil and gas company. The money is to be paid in three stages to the end of March 2015.

Other examples of asset seizures include the home of gangland figure Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll, who was gunned down in a supermarket car park in 2010, although no reference is made to the fact the Crown Office failed to secure a conviction for the murder of Mr Carroll after a judge ruled the Crown had presented insufficient evidence in the case of an accused suspect.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill Eager as ever to comment on the Crown Office spin, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said: "Prosecutors and police are cracking down on organised crime and criminals have nowhere to hide.More than £12m has been confiscated from criminals last year, hitting them where it hurts - their wallets.

MacAskill continued : "Our communities are benefiting from the hard work of prosecutors and police putting ill-gotten gains to good use through our CashBack for Communities Programme, which invests crooks' cash in facilities and activities for our young people and their communities across the length and breadth of the country."

The Cashback for Communities scheme referred to by the Justice Secretary takes money recovered through proceeds of crime legislation and invests it in activities and facilities for young people at risk of turning to a life of crime. The Scottish Government claim more than £50m has been ploughed back into Scottish communities since Cashback began operating in 2007.

From ‘Axe Nurses First’ crackpot legal aid protests to Commonwealth Law Conference trips to South Africa, Law Society promises CLA delegates warm welcome in 2015

From crackpot protests outside Holyrood to CLA Conference in South Africa - Law Society President Austin Lafferty. AS THE EIGHTEENTH Commonwealth Law Conference came to a close in Cape Town, South Africa last week, Law Society of Scotland President Austin Lafferty promised delegates "the warmest of welcomes and a truly memorable experience" when Glasgow hosts the next conference in 2015.

The Law Society of Scotland said in a Press Release : The Commonwealth Lawyers' Association announced in January plans to bring its biennial conference to Glasgow in 2015. This followed a successful bid put together by the Law Society of Scotland in partnership with the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC).

The bid also attracted wide support from the Scottish and UK Governments, Faculty of Advocates, VisitScotland and several other Commonwealth Law Societies.

Come 2015, delegates, including judges, lawyers and academics from across the Commonwealth are expected to attend the conference in Glasgow at the SECC, providing a welcome boost to the local economy.

As part of the closing ceremony for this week's conference in Cape Town, the Law Society of Scotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau presented Glasgow as an exciting and dynamic city and encouraged commonwealth lawyers to visit.

Speaking to almost 1,000 conference delegates, Law Society President Austin Lafferty said: "Glasgow is a city that offers the best of both worlds. A vibrant, dynamic, friendly place. A city of beautiful architecture, a city rich in culture and art, a city of style.

"It's fitting that the city that will next year host the Commonwealth's greatest sporting event will, less than 12 months later, host the Commonwealth's greatest legal gathering.  It will be a proud moment for my city and for my country.

"I can promise delegates the warmest of welcomes and a truly memorable experience in 2015."

The Advocate General, Lord Wallace of Tankerness attended this week's conference in Cape Town and was a strong public supporter of the Glasgow bid to host the conference.

He said: "Bringing a major international conference like this to Scotland is a major achievement and the Law Society of Scotland has done an excellent job in securing it. There has been a real sense of excitement this week with many Commonwealth lawyers looking forward to visiting Glasgow in 2015, many for the first time.

"Scotland has a proud, historic and distinct legal system. 2015 will provide a great opportunity to showcase the Scots legal profession but also learn from colleagues across the Commonwealth facing many similar challenges and issues in their own countries. It also allows us to show off one of our major cities and Scotland as a whole to professionals from across the globe and I look forward to it being a success in two years' time."

‘Magic Circle’ of Scottish Judges & rent boys : Scandal Solicitor David Blair Wilson is convicted of attempted smuggling of drugs & mobile phones into Saughton jail

Solicitor David Blair Wilson pictured outside court. DAVID BLAIR WILSON, a crooked solicitor well known for his part in the Magic Circle affair which exposed a sex-for-justice scandal involving liaisons between rent boys and members of Scotland’s judiciary & Crown Office, has been convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into Saughton Prison during October 2011.

Blair Wilson was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh after a six day jury trial which heard the solicitor attempt to blame a younger male friend, identified as Steven Douglas who Blair Wilson told the jury was a drug dealer and who regarded Blair Wilson as a “surrogate dad”.

The trial judge, Lord Burns, granted bail to Blair Wilson until he is sentenced next month.

Sex for justice scandal involved Scottish Judges & male hookers, forced resignation of Lord Dervaird while others escaped. Scottish Law Reporter has featured coverage of the Magic Circle in earlier article HERE and also featured a report on the former Lord Advocate now Dame Elish Angiolini DBE QC (born McPhilomy) key role in what was known at the time as Operation Planet, the drive to catch crooked judges & prosecutors who were swapping boys for favours in Scottish Courts, HERE

Lord Nimmo Smith QC’s REPORT ON MAGIC CIRCLE GAY JUSTICE SCANDAL, widely regarded by many as a whitewash of the corruption in the Scottish judiciary, identifies Dame Elish Angiolini who worked at the Crown Office at the time as a Senior Legal Assistant, under her maiden mane of Elish McPhilomy. It was clear from subsequent discussions, the report played a heavy part in formulating Crown Office policy on the prosecution of judges, lawyers & other members of the legal profession who were engaging in the illegal sex acts with other men & under age boys.

The Daily Mail newspaper has reported on David Blair Wilson’s conviction :

Lawyer tried to take drugs and phones into jail

'Magic Circle' solicitor's career over

By Brian Horne and Jim McBeth

A CROOKED lawyer with a colourful past has been convicted of trying to smuggle drugs and mobile phones into a prison.

David Blair Wilson was found guilty yesterday at the High Court in Edinburgh after a six-day trial.

The court heard the Dunfermline -based lawyer turned up at Saughton Prison, Edin­burgh, in October 2011 to see Lee Brown, 35, who was serving 18 years for attempted murder and other offences.

Prison officer Graham Robertson checked the lawyer's ID and told him to pass his 'bulging' folder through a scanner.

Mr Robertson told the court: 'His body language changed. He became anxious-looking (and), began to fidget.'                  

Blair Wilson, 55, left and went back to his car taut when he returned the file was 'noticeably thinner'. A search of his vehicle by Lothian and Borders Police found the contraband under a seat.

Blair Wilson, who was disciplined by the Law Society ten years ago for being derelict in his duties as a solicitor, claimed it belonged to a drug-dealing friend, Steven Doug­las, and alleged Douglas had used the car the previous evening.

The lawyer said that Douglas, who failed to appear to give evidence, regarded him as a 'surro­gate dad'. He claimed Douglas had lost a valuable packet of heroin belonging to 'heavies' and had been threatened with death.

Blair Wilson said the contraband, worth nearly £3,000 behind bars, had nothing to do with him but admitted it was allegedly to be given to Lee Brown in the hope he would negotiate with the drug dealers on behalf of Douglas.

However, the jury convicted the lawyer by a majority of trying to smuggle three phones and three SIM cards into the jail.

He was also convicted of supply­ing cannabis resin, diazepam and body-building drugs.

The lawyer, whose 30-year career was in tatters last night, is no stranger to controversy.

In the 1980s, he played a key role in the 'Magic Circle' affair - rumours there was a clique of high-ranking homosexuals in the legal profes­sion and that 'gay blackmail' had played a part in high-profile trials. Blair Wilson was the solicitor for fellow lawyer Colin Tucker, cleared of embezzling £50,000 from clients.

Tucker confessed to taking money but said he had been made to do it by a 'boss' who 'had a hold over him because he was gay'.

He is said to have provided his defence team with a list of highly-placed gays in the profession which 'proved' the blackmail claims.

An independent inquiry, headed by Lord Nimmo Smith, concluded 'there was no conspiracy'.

Blair Wilson will be sentenced next month.

Have an opinion on Scotland’s health services or an experience worth sharing to help others ? Share it on Patient Opinion

PATIENTS using Scotland’s health services are now able to have their opinions & experiences of using the country’s medical services published online via the new Patient Opinion website, announced today by the Scottish Government’s Health Secretary Alex Neil, who said he wanted to hear patient’s stories first hand whether good or bad to help improve health services. The move follows a £160,000 roll out across health boards including the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS).

Patient Opinion provides a confidential way for patients to share their healthcare experiences, good or bad, online. Comments are then passed to relevant staff who can respond or use the feedback to help change services.

The Scottish Ambulance Service participated in an initial pilot of Patient Opinion and have already used patient feedback to help shape improvements to the Patient Transport Service. This involved enhancing the response to patients with mental health care needs and highlighting positive feedback with staff across the service to share and learn from best practice examples.

Health Secretary Alex Neil said: “We want to hear patient’s stories first hand in their own words, whether it’s good or bad, because it helps us to make our health services better.Now patients, carers and their families will be able to let health boards know, openly and publically, how a service was for them and where it can improve. And if our health professionals are doing a great job we want them to know about it.”

Mr Neil continued : “The best thing is, staff will receive this feedback in real-time rather than having to wait months for the results of our traditional paper surveys. Many of these stories can be inspirational and where our health professionals are doing a great job we want them to know about it. I hope it will be a more accessible way for patients and families to give their views, and will add to the tools that NHS boards already have in place to get feedback from patients. Every organisation takes feedback from customers very seriously and the NHS should be no different. The NHS belongs to everyone and they should have a say in how its run and what they want.”

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “The Scottish Ambulance Service recognises that it’s helpful for patients and carers to have a wide range of options for giving feedback on their care experience. Patient Opinion is an increasingly useful feedback channel, which is helping the Service improve patient care.”

Dr Paul Hodgkin, Chief Executive of Patient Opinion, said: “Lots of people have already taken the opportunity to share their stories on Patient Opinion. We want to encourage even more people to get involved in making our health services even better by sharing their experiences and watching what happens as a result.”

Tom Waterson, Chair, UNISON Scotland’s Health Committee said: “Unison welcomes the Health Secretary’s move to encourage “real-time” dialogue between health boards, staff and patients. Patient stories can make a difference in many ways, both to the quality of care and the morale of hard working NHS staff in their desire to deliver world class care. They can be powerful motivational reminders to frontline staff of how they are making a difference to someone’s life and play an important role in educating the healthcare professionals of the future.”

Case study

One patient has already seen how the Scottish Ambulance Service has taken on board patient feedback through the website.

After feeding back about their experience, the user posted: “I would like to briefly update this. Since writing about my experience here I have had very helpful and reassuring conversations with the Scottish Ambulance Service. At a face-face meeting I was able to talk through what happened and ask some questions that I had. I felt comfortable and free to say what I needed to and I feel very validated and understood. I thank the staff members of the Scottish Ambulance Service who talked with me for their time and understanding.”

From today, the service will be available for the following health boards to respond to feedback from patients: NHS Highland, NHS Shetland, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Scottish Ambulance Service, Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and National Education Scotland. The remaining health boards will be asked to adopt the service by the end of the year.

Related information: Patient Opinion website Full case study story