Complainer AB alleged that Paul Cooney, a former teacher, committed lewd and indecent acts against her from 1977 to 1980. The case faced complications due to the Lord Advocate's prior renunciation of the right to prosecute, which led to a plea in bar of trial being upheld. The court considered [...]

Maria Gardiner and Michael Anderson, both sentenced to life with an 18-year punishment part, appealed their convictions for murder, arguing the trial judge misdirected the jury on the applicability of different verdicts for co-accused.  The attack on the deceased was pre-planned, involving multiple weapons and a clear intention to inflict [...]

Stuart Kennedy was convicted at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of two offenses under the Sexual Offenses (Scotland) Act 2009 after a hen party incident where he engaged in non-consensual physical contact with two women.  He received a community payback order with 12 months of supervision and appealed, arguing that the trial [...]

Justice Secretary Angela Constance has launched a consultation to gather opinions on how to reduce the trauma experienced by bereaved families of child homicide victims, particularly due to media and social media coverage. The consultation, which remains open for responses until next month, explores several potential measures, including whether the [...]

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, a 33-year-old Greenock Morton footballer, has been charged with attempting to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis through Stansted Airport. He was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers after 60kg of the drug was found in suitcases from Bangkok. Emmanuel-Thomas is set to appear in court, while two [...]

A full reinvestigation has been ordered into the murder of Alistair Wilson, a father of two, who was shot on his doorstep in Nairn, Scottish Highlands, nearly 20 years ago. The 30-year-old was killed on November 28, 2004, while his two young sons were inside the house. Despite multiple appeals [...]

Steven McGarry, 37, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after police found a handgun and live ammunition at his home in Paisley.  During a search of McGarry's two-bedroom home, police found the weapon and 15 rounds of ammunition hidden in a sports bag. The gun had [...]

All young people under 18 have now been transferred from young offenders institutions such as HMYOI Polmont to more child-friendly secure units. This decision follows the suicides of young people while in detention and new law. Until recently, nine youths were held at Polmont Young Offenders Institution, but the last [...]

Prosecutors have made Scottish legal history by using proceeds of crime legislation to seize and convert a cryptocurrency stash into physical cash. John Ross Rennie, 29, has been ordered to hand over £109,601 after his legal team reached an agreement with Crown prosecutors that the amount was derived from criminal [...]

Recorded crime in Scotland has increased over the past year, with domestic abuse cases up by 22% and shoplifting incidents rising by 34%, according to Police Scotland. Official statistics indicate that 300,070 crimes were recorded in the year leading up to June 2024, marking a 3% increase from the previous [...]