Ex-sheriff fined for offensive phone remarks

Former sheriff Alistair Duff has been fined £1,275 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after pleading guilty to uttering sexual and racist remarks during a phone conversation.

The incident took place during the lunch break of an online training course for justices of the peace, which the sheriff was conducting from his home. Three attendees who returned early heard the remarks and were sufficiently concerned to report them to the police. The sheriff had not realised his microphone was on. It was established that the man to whom he had been speaking had been watching pornography on his computer at the time.

Mr Duff is a former director of the Judicial Institute for Scotland, which organises training for all levels of the judiciary. A solicitor advocate prior to his appointment as sheriff, he at one time represented Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

For Mr Duff, John Scullion KC said his client's long career had "ended in ignominy... He had only himself to blame and the personal cost should not be underestimated".

Sheriff Douglas Kerr said he accepted there was no significant sexual element to the offence, in what was a "troubling and anxious" case. He took Mr Duff's "long and distinguished career" into account in selecting the penalty.