GD467/2/1/7:
Ian Dunn Archive 1969

GD467/1/2/5 1983-1993 SMG/SHRG /Outright Scotland: important legal cases

Photocopies of doucments not writen by SMG, SHRG etc not listed, as are acknowledgements of communications that cannot be identified.,

1938 High Court. Edinburgh, March. [Photocopy]
INDICTMENT against Peter Allan Ogg and Ewan Cameron King.
 (Con. Criminal Law Amendment Act. 1885, Sec. 11, and Sodomy.)
Photocopy A4 folded tied in pink ribbon.

... in you r dwelling-house at ... Edinburgh ... another male person, and did place your naked private member between his legs and in contact with his naked thighs and did permit him to place his naked private member between your legs and in contact with your naked thighs ... and did permit him to handle your naked private member.   ... [and so on for 3 pages of A4
 9 July 1970 photocopy of letter from Stanley Brown, Crown Agent, Crown Office, Edinburgh to Colin Hervey, SMG.  
I have received your letter of 1 July about the prosecution of hs in Scotland. The only offences exclusively relating to homosexual condust are as detailed by Mr Hill in his letter of 29 April. These are -
1. Sodomy, which is defined as the unnatural connection between male persons, and
2. Section 11 of the Criminal Amendment Act 1885 which provides that any male person who in public or private commits, or is a party to the commision of, or procures or attempts to procure the sommittsion by any male person of any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be guilty of an offence.
23 June 1975  photocopy of letter from WH Caswell Probation Officer to Nation Council for Civil Liberties
Re: [name given] d 1954 (20 years)
I am not sure if anything can be done in the case of the above you man.
This is a single man serving a two year sentence at Wormwood Scrubs whose EDR is 28.8.76 ... offence of buggery with another serving soldier of the same age. ... clearly an offence under military law the effect is that he is serving a sentence as a civilian for something which would normally be outside the interest of the lay and which would certainly never result in this sort of sentence ...
Also lettet from NCCL to Secy of State for Defence 24 Jul 1975.
13 Dec 1976 letter from Malcolm Crowe, SMG to Lord Advocate
... I am apalled to learn that the Paisley Procurator-Fiscal, standing in in another Sheriffdom, has prosecuted in the Sheriff Court a 15-year-old boy for sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girle contrary to s.5 of the 1885 Ciminal (Amendment) Act.
... boy concerned is considerably more naive than the girl ...
22 Dec 1976 reply form Crown Office
... there was no error regarding the age of the boy. ,, Crown Counsel ... carefully considered .. considered that the circumstances merited prosecution.
 Letter dated 6 August 1976 on SMG headed paper  letter for publication from Member of SMG Angus Robbie, Chairman, South Aberdeen Liberal Association.
"THE SCOTSMAN, August 6 1976
Dear Sir,
POLICE AND INDECENCY
Your fron-page report (Scotsmn, JUly 31 [1976]) of the conviction of a Glasgow District Councillor for indecently assaulting a policeman makes sorry reading.  ... raises several questions.
First, why was it felt necessary to detail two young policemen in plainclothes to keep surveillance on a public lavatory? Surely the occasional but regular presence of a uniformed office and/or police car would have been a better deterrant to those who commit a nuisance. This, and the youth of th two plainclothes men suggest that the police were using "agents provocateurs".
THe remarks of P.C. Sheils that he could "take observations" of the adjoining lavatory cublice through a hole in the wall are particularly distasteful. IF that cubicle was being used by a perfectly lawy-abiding person would PC Sheils have been committing an offence by taking observations?
...
8 Mar 1977 photocopy of letter frin Ian Dunn, Legal Action Committee, SMG to Minister of Education, Queensland re Greg Weir's Case .. to do with sex education in schools in Australia and a gay teacher.
 30 May 1977 letter from Sandr [?] to Malcolm [Crowe]
Name given ... new [female] member  ... understanding husband ... divorce ... sympathetic solicitor. [Not clear quite what this is about.]

Scotsman 30 Aug 1977 p1 cutting: Candidate resigns after conviction

Further photocpy of unidentified newspaper article: Sex act ruined career in politics.

1 Sep 1977 typed carbon copy: SMG Report to Executive Committee - Case of three men convicted with buggery and indecency. Many corrections in pen.
 Three men ... lavatory in unkempt state ... "Police stood on embankment looking over toilet and by using a mirror attached to a pole were able to see ghrough trellis work into toilet & arrest men.
1. early 50s charged with sodomy & submission to sodomy & indecency - sentenced to 1 year imprisonment.
2. Late 20s similar charges - sentenced to 1 year imprisonment.
3. Early 20s charged with indecency - found not guilty.

RE Henderson, Advocate, surprised at conviction. sheriff Christie described as patrician, old fashioned, and 'respectable'. He would have expected £100 fine and a suspended sentence. Case unique - difficulty of proving whether act was in private of public and the fact that 3 were involved.

7 Sep 1988 follow up letter from Malcolm Crowe to Lord Justice Clerk, Court of Session, Edinburgh, Lord Advocate, Crown Agent etc.

Other letters date 10 Nov 1977,.

1 Dec 1977 handwritten letter from one [named] imprisoned in this case

... You must realise that I cannot write everything down that I would like to say, as all letters are censored and one's life can be made miserable because of the charge. I would like to say ... I instructed my solicitor to pleas guilty to a lesser charge, which he failed to do. ...I have never felt happy the way my Solicitors did things ...
Also during the trial ... to the right of the judge, there is a door which has a glass porthole in it . Outside looking in ws the only crown witnesses, which was two policement, one of which was PC... and by his actions looking to us three accused, he was informing the other policeman , our names and in order to how we were sitting in court, for identification purposes before they gave evidence.
I am bit guilty to the charge, but I am guilty to a much lesser charge.
I got the other persons permission to include his name, to this letter, with information regarding him, but the whole page has had to be rewritten, because the prison authorities haere refused this letter to go out, until I had removed the other persons name from the letter, ever though I had his permission to do so.
I was sentenced to 12 months on  ... 1977. It would appear because of prison rules, I can't write names to you, if this is meant to be British Justice they can keep it. 

I can only rely on you to start something going, at Crown Office, and the Secretary of State. I write as I think, not as other people want me to?

Thanks [name given]

Is it possible could you visit me? 

... I expected my solicitor to get in touch about an appeal, but no, I had no word from them, I thought they would look after my interests, but I see I was mistaken.

Thanks again [name given]

Start from here after hand written letter