Homosexual judges named in police report

Stephen Ward
Friday 11 September 1992 23:02 BST
Comments

Senior Scottish legal figures may have interfered with cases to protect fellow members of a 'well-established circle of homosexual persons' from being mentioned in court, a leaked police report concludes.

The report, leaked to yesterday's Edinburgh Evening News, was said to study five cases, detailing fact and speculation surrounding Crown decisions to abandon them, or not to prosecute individuals.

A High Court judge, two sheriffs and leading members of the legal profession have all allegedly been named in the report.

Lothian and Borders police would not say yesterday whether the leak was linked to a break-in at its headquarters on 19 July when confidential documents were stolen. It was believed at the time that this report was not among the missing papers. An inquiry into the leak has begun.

The report concludes: 'Persons engaged in the inquiry . . . feel that the decision to drop charges and prosecution (in one of the cases) was a tactical one . . . to prevent the possibility of evidence being presented which could potentially compromise senior figures in the judiciary.'

It also says: 'The inference is one of a well-established circle of homosexual persons in Edinburgh with influence in the justiciary who may, or may not, have exercised that influence, but who have formed associations which in themselves lay them open to blackmail.

'It may well be the case that homosexuality per se is no longer considered detrimental to the standing of a person holding public office. However, the circumstances set out in this report indicate that homosexuality may well have been used as a means to seriously interfere with the administration of justice.'

One of the five cases concerned claims by a 16-year-old boy who ran away from a children's home, which led to an inquiry into a network of homosexuals who used a male prostitute to procure young men for sex.

An indictment totalling 57 charges was prepared and the Crown was set to go to trial, citing a large number of witnesses from the gay scene in Edinburgh. But shortly before the trial, defence lawyers were told it was no longer policy to prosecute for consenting homosexual conduct with persons under 18.

Tam Dalyell, Labour MP for Linlithgow, last night confirmed the accuracy of the Edinburgh newspaper's report, saying he had written to the Prime Minister on Thursday asking for further investigation of the affair.

Network suspected for years, page 3

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in