Six new summary sheriffs appointed

Six new summary sheriffs have been appointed, the Judicial Office for Scotland announced today.

Valerie Mays and Paul Brown have been appointed to the Sheriffdom of Glasgow and Strathkelvin, sitting at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Admitted as a solicitor in 1995, Ms Mays worked for the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration before moving to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service as procurator fiscal depute in 1996. From 1999 to 2006 she worked as a solicitor for the Scottish Government, and since 2006 she has been a solicitor at the Mental Health Tribunal for Scotland. A former legal assessor for the General Teaching Council for Scotland, she is currently a judge of the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber and Immigration & Asylum Chamber).

Mr Brown was a solicitor in private practice from 2003-2009, latterly with JC Hughes in Glasgow. He became an advocate in 2009, specialising in criminal trials and appeals. In 2015 he was appointed as an advocate depute, working in the National Sex Crimes Unit and then predominantly in the prosecution of serious and organised crime.

Lindsey Kooner (formerly Lindsey McPhie) has been appointed to the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde, based at Paisley Sheriff Court. Admitted as a solicitor in 1995, she worked with Hughes Dowdall and then Gallen and Co in 1998. She was admitted as a solicitor advocate in 2012. She was part of the advisory panel to the Independent Strategic Review of Legal Aid and is a past President of the Glasgow Bar Association.

Liam Murphy will serve in the Sheriffdom of South Strathclyde, Dumfries and Galloway. He trained in local government and practised with Finlayson Wise, solicitors before joining COPFS in 1998. After different roles across Scotland including procurator fiscal for Hamilton and for the North of Scotland, since June 2016 he has been the procurator fiscal for specialist casework.

Keith O’Mahony will sit in the Sheriffdom of Tayside, Central & Fife, based at Perth Sheriff Court. After four years in private practice as a solicitor and in local government, in 2001 he joined the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service where he ultimately held the post of senior procurator fiscal depute. In 2015 he became a solicitor advocate and was appointed an advocate depute in the same year.

Ian Wallace has been appointed to the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland & Islands based at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. He trained with COPFS and then worked as a procurator fiscal depute in Dumfries and Edinburgh, moving on to the Crown Office Policy Division, Communications team, High Court Division, and International Cooperation Unit. He qualified as a solicitor advocate in 2014, and has worked as an advocate depute since 2014.

The six new summary sheriffs will take up office on 1 October 2018. The appointments were made by the Queen on the recommendation of the First Minister, following a report by the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland.