Journalist & broadcaster Robert Green arrested after Sheriff gained gagging order over abuse claims. Newspapers are now reporting a story reported earlier by Scottish Law Reporter of an interdict obtained by Sheriff Graeme Buchanan against journalist & broadcaster Robert Green, who had travelled to Aberdeen in connection with his investigations into an alleged paedophile ring, linking senior members of Scotland’s legal establishment who stand accused of abusing vulnerable & disabled children.
The interdict, obtained by Edinburgh Law Firm Simpson & Marwick, apparently acting in conjunction with Glasgow law firm Levy McRae, who also represent Elish Angiolini, Scotland’s Lord Advocate, led to the arrest of Mr Green, and his house in Cheshire being raided by Grampian Police officers.
The Press & Journal reports :
Sheriff gets court order to silence abuse claim
By Ryan Crighton Published: 18/03/2010
An Aberdeen sheriff has obtained a gagging order against a would-be MP who has accused him of abusing a young, disabled girl.
Sheriff Graham Buchanan was forced to resort to legal action after Robert Green continued to spread the allegations against him, despite two separate police investigations finding there was no truth in them.
Mr Green, who describes himself as a lay legal adviser, is representing Hollie Greig, who has Down’s syndrome and who alleges that she was systematically abused by a paedophile ring for 14 years from the age of six.
Mr Green has named a number of men and women, including Sheriff Buchanan and a now-deceased former senior policeman, as having taken part in the abuse.
The sheriff’s lawyers, Edinburgh-based Simpson and Marwick, have now successfully applied to the Court of Session in Edinburgh for an interim interdict preventing Mr Green from continuing his campaign.
The interdict also prevents Mr Green from claiming that the sheriff was involved in the “murder” of Hollie’s uncle, Robert Greig, who died in a car fire in 1997.
Grampian Police investigated the sex-abuse claims in 2000 and again late last year and concluded on both occasions that the accusations were baseless.
The day after the interim interdict was granted, Mr Green was arrested as he left a guesthouse in Aberdeen.
He appeared at Stonehaven Sheriff Court on February 15, following his arrest, charged with a breach of the peace. He made no plea and was released on bail. The case is expected to call again later this year.
Mr Green, 63, claims one of the bail conditions bars him from entering the north-east, which he says will hinder his plans to try to win the Aberdeen South seat at the general election, widely expected to be on May 6.
The Court of Session interdict, granted by Lord Emslie, bans Mr Green, of 4 Birchdale Road, Warrington, Cheshire, from communicating false and defamatory statements about the sheriff at Aberdeen Sheriff Court or anywhere else in Scotland.
The false statements are listed in papers as:
That the sheriff was involved in sexually abusing Hollie Greig.
That the sheriff has been involved in covering up the sexual abuse.
That he was involved in the “murder” of Hollie Greig’s uncle, Robert Greig.
The same restrictions apply to anyone acting on Mr Green’s behalf or on his instructions. The interdict also bars Mr Green from harassing the sheriff by making the claims at all.
Sheriff Buchanan – who has accused Mr Green of mounting a “campaign of harassment” – declined to comment yesterday.
Hollie claims she was abused for 14 years from the age of six and has given police the names of some of the men she says assaulted her.
The 30-year-old and her mother, Anne, have been campaigning for criminal proceedings since 2000.
The abuse is alleged to have taken place in Aberdeen, and Hollie and her mother claim to have made a statement at Bucksburn police station in July that year naming those allegedly involved.
The family moved to Shropshire and two Grampian Police officers travelled to Shrewsbury in September last year to re-interview Hollie at a special facility.
In January, the Crown Office said there was not enough reliable evidence to proceed with the case.
Despite no charges ever being brought, Hollie received £13,500 compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority in April last year.
It is understood that followed evidence from a Grampian detective inspector, who described Hollie as “a truthful witness to the best of her ability and an entirely innocent victim”.
Mrs Greig, 58, claims her daughter has experienced nightmares and panic attacks since she first told her about the alleged abuse.
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