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.
Lawyer tried to take drugs and phones into jail