Strange times .. if a witness or accused 'legs it' from Court, we usually hear calls of "ah, they must be guilty, they have fled to escape justice ...etc" .. but not this time, because this time it's a lawyer ...
The Scotsman reports :
A respected prosecutor admired for dedication
JOHN ROBERTSON LAW CORRESPONDENT
ALAN Mackay, the prosecutor of the World's End case, could never be described as extrovert, flashy or a court "performer".
However, that is not to say that he is not a thoroughly competent and well-respected lawyer.
Recently, a judge unconnected with the case was in casual conversation with someone following the trial, and asked who was prosecuting it. Given the name, his comment was: "He's a good prosecutor, Alan Mackay."
So it came as a huge shock to many in the legal world that Mr Mackay should be on the receiving end of suggestions of a blunder.
Mr Mackay, 45, a graduate of Edinburgh University, joined the Faculty of Advocates in 1990 and came to identify criminal law and social work cases as areas of particular interest. He became a High Court prosecutor, known as an advocate- depute, in 2003 and, in 2005, was promoted to the post of senior advocate-depute.
His hard-working and dedicated approach has been much admired. It got results such as the conviction of hit-man murderer William Gage, who shot a millionaire's son five times outside his Cambuslang home.
Mr Mackay is known to take to heart cases which do not go to plan. Another of his major prosecutions was that of policeman Dean Stewart on multiple charges of rape and indecent assault of women in Ayrshire.
Although it was felt that the Crown could struggle because of the vulnerability of many of the victims to attacks on their truthfulness and reliability, Mr Mackay was disappointed when only a few of the charges were proved, and Stewart received a sentence of five years.
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