Scots Criminal Law – Seán Crossan's Scots Law

Grindhouse Day (or Man with an International Travel Ban)

An interesting story appeared in the Scottish and national UK media on Wednesday 26 February 2025 about a case at Wick Sheriff Court which has made legal history.

Chief Constable of Police Scotland v Kevin Booth [2025] SC WCK 8

A link to the judgement (issued by Sheriff Neil Wilson) on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) can be found below:

https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/scot/cases/ScotSC/2025/2025scwck008.html&query=(Chief)+AND+(Constable)+AND+(of)+AND+(Police)+AND+(Scotland)+AND+(v)+AND+(Kevin)+AND+(Booth)+AND+(.2025.)+AND+(SC)+AND+(WCK)+AND+(8)

When I heard the first account of this story on BBC’s Six ‘o’ Clock News and, immediately afterwards on BBC Reporting Scotland, I assumed that the Sheriff Court had issued its Order under its criminal jurisdiction. I was wrong, but more about that later.

A word of warning to anyone contemplating reading Sheriff Wilson’s judgement, it contains graphic accounts of violence carried out by Booth against his victims. The judgement is not for the faint hearted.

Totally by coincidence, this story was reported around the time that a major Hollywood film, Heretic (starring Hugh Grant) had just been released; the plot of which featured a misogynist running a torture dungeon under his suburban home. Although the real life setting of Booth’s remote, baronial mansion in the Scottish Highlands definitely won out over Hollywood for its sheer spookiness factor.

A link to the BBC Scotland report can be found below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy9dld3jgx8o

The Man with an International Travel Ban

The case centred around Kevin Booth who had been accused of physically abusing women in a private dungeon located in the cellars of his Highland home. Adding to the Grindhouse Movie atmosphere of this story, Booth was in the habit of filming these encounters. It later transpired that many of Booth’s victims were employed by him as domestic servants at his Highland home. Many of these women were foreign nationals who had been lured to the UK by promises of well paid employment with Booth. They were highly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. These women were to be bitterly disappointed: the golden future that Booth had painted was a deception and, little did they know it, but they were about to enter a nightmare.

At first, I thought, nothing unusual about this story as violence against and the abuse of women and girls is still shockingly and depressingly common in Scotland (and the rest of the UK). Just that week, The Metro had run a front page story detailing the fact that the incidence of the crime of upskirting on trains had rocketed across the UK (see the link below).

Upskirting incidents on British trains have risen year on year since 2021

Back to Mr Booth: he is a millionaire (apparently) who owns a remote Scottish Baronial mansion located at the end of a 10 mile private road in the Highlands. The Police, acting on complaints received from several women who had worked for Booth, gathered evidence against him of potential, criminal wrongdoing e.g. torture (referred to as punishment beatings) and human trafficking, but the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) later abandoned criminal proceedings against Mr Booth.

When the average person hears phrases like human trafficking and punishment beatings, you can’t blame them for arriving at the completely justifiable conclusion that this will involve breaches of the criminal law.

From knowledgeable sources of mine, it has been speculated that the Crown abandoned proceedings against Booth because it was not in the public interest (yes amazingly); there may have been some level of ‘consent’ given by Booth’s victims; and there was not a sufficiently high chance of securing a conviction against him.

That said, there are limits placed upon physical abuse that an adult may agree to undergo as the House of Lords made very clear in its decision of R v Brown [1993] UKHL 19 [1994] 1 AC 212. This case made headlines at the time because of the types of physical abuse which went way beyond the types of sado-masochostic sexual practices that would be deemed legally permissible.

At this point, it is worth restating that we have a system of public prosecution in Scotland (private prosecutions are extremely rare). It is the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) which make decisions about whether an accused person will face trial in a criminal court. Police Scotland can charge a person with a crime (in this case Mr Booth), but it will be up to COPFS to green light a prosecution.

As we have seen, a criminal prosecution against Booth was attempted, but was later abandoned. This development, however, did not deter Police Scotland from taking further civil action against Booth at Wick Sheriff Court by applying for a Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Risk Order (TERO).

Mr Booth is now the subject of an international travel ban to last for a duration of 5 years. This Order is the first of its kind in Scottish legal history. The ban or was made in terms of section 26 of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015. The official name for this type of ban is a Trafficking and Exploitation Prevention Risk Order or TERO for short.

In relation to his activities, Booth, however, has not been convicted of any criminal acts and the travel ban was imposed by a civil court. The Police actively sought this civil order. There are other restrictions imposed on Booth by the Sheriff Court. He will, for instance, have to notify Police Scotland in advance if he proposes to employ women at his home. This Order is more about controlling Booth in the future as opposed to punishing him (in the criminal sense) for his past treatment of the victims in the story.

It has to be said that Mr Booth has a rap sheet that would turn most people’s hair white: physical abuse of pupils at a school in Africa where he worked as a teacher; further physical abuse of young children of school age in the North East of England; and, more worryingly, allegations of rape of a woman in the Republic of Ireland. Clearly, Booth is not a nice person – to put it mildly.

The Police have had significant involvement with Booth and have investigated him after a number of complaints were received from women who stated that they had been physically abused by him.

On BBC Scotland, the reporter likened the abuse to “punishment beatings”. Booth is still a free man for now – although the Police will continue to monitor his activities. At the time of writing, Booth was the subject of a criminal trial at Wick Sheriff Court for allegedly making indecent communication s to a woman (please see link to article on the BBC website below).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd7v27nnv9go

The question being asked is “Why is this man not in jail?”

This is clearly a question for COPFS to answer because it is the relevant legal authority for determining whether a public prosecution of an accused should proceed.

The decision not to proceed against Booth is going to be particularly controversial given high profile campaigns about violence against women and attempts by the authorities to reduce these types of incidents.

What about the victims pursuing private prosecutions against Booth?

Well, this Blog has previously discussed the problems associated with these types of legal action in Scotland. It is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely in practice as the victims would have to make an application to the High Court of Justiciary for a Bill for Criminal Letters which would permit them to initiate a private prosecution against Booth. It’s worth remembering that the last successful private prosecution in Scotland was over 40 years ago (X v Sweeney [1982] JC 70)

A civil action, for the time being, might be the only effective remedy for the victims.

That said, the Police and COPFS are monitoring the situation and, if significant new, evidence comes to light, Booth may well have to face his day in a criminal court.

In conclusion, Sheriff Neil Wilson had this to say about Booth’s conduct (at paragraph 102 of his judgement):

“… the evidence of Mr Booth’s egregious conduct, as presented in court, was, at times, utterly harrowing. The graphic video footage, combined with the context and background provided by supporting documentary evidence in various forms, was redolent of a level of cruelty and depravity which, whilst extreme, one can only hope is rare. It might be thought that the use of such value-laden language in a legal judgment is inappropriate. I would beg to differ, and make no apologies for including it. This judgment may be primarily concerned with the legal issues before the court, but it is important not to lose sight of the human suffering giving rise to this case.”

Recent Update About Mr Booth

On 28 October 2025, at Wick Sheriff Court, Mr Booth was found guilty of making an indecent communication to a woman who had been employed by him. Booth will return to Court at a later date to be sentenced by the Sheriff.

A link to the story on the BBC website can be found below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyp392jx2do

Explanatory Note About Grindhouse Movies

According to Wikipedia: A grindhouse or action house^[1] is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter, and exploitation films for adults.

According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the “grind policy”, a film-programming strategy dating back to the early 1920s that continuously showed films at cut-rate ticket prices that typically rose over the course of each day. This exhibition practice was markedly different from the era’s more common practice of fewer shows per day and graduated pricing for different seating sections in large urban theatres, which were typically studio-owned.

Copyright Seán J Crossan, 26 February 2025 and 28 October 2025

Sometimes you have to break the law to change it?

A question I have been pondering quite a lot recently amounts to the following:

‘Is it ever ok or acceptable to break the law in order to change it?’

All sorts of fanatics and the downright criminal will often portray their behaviour as serving a higher purpose when what they mean is that it is entirely self-serving on their part.

The question is extremely contentious (not to say highly subjective), but not as off the wall or leftfield as you might first think.

Why?

Current events that’s why. Pressure groups like Extinction Rebellion, with its programme of environmental activism, are sincerely committed in their beliefs and they have the weight of scientific evidence on their side regarding the threat of climate change. However, it is highly debatable to what extent the public will support their tactics which involve a range of public order offences e.g. blocking major roads and disrupting the transport system. The activists argue that climate change is such an existential threat that any and all means are necessary to give the wider public the necessary wake up call which will swing the pendulum firmly in favour of more sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches to the way in which society is organised.

Taking the law into your own hands?

We have been here before, in fairly recent times, with groups such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND); animal rights activists; and campaigners against GM food taking direct (and often unlawful) action against the objects of their ire.

A case I remember very well where this sort of direct action occurred was Lord Advocate’s Reference Number 1 of 2000 [2001] Scot HC 15 (30th March, 2001).

In this case, three anti-nuclear weapons protesters (part of the Ploughshares movement) were accused of illegal entry to a ship (‘Maytime’) which was anchored on Loch Goil in June 1999. The ship had a support role in relation to Royal Navy submarines carrying Trident missiles.

The protesters faced criminal damage and theft charges in relation to equipment which was on the ship. In their defence, the protesters claimed that their actions were justified because they were attempting to draw attention to the British Government’s continued possession of nuclear weapons – a situation which the protesters argued was a crime under international law. Now, there is some merit to this argument as the American led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 was based on the premise that the then Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein was in possession of weapons of mass destruction (which were never found and doubtless never existed).

At the trial at Greenock Sheriff Court, Sheriff, Margaret Gimblet, directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict in relation to several of the charges. As for the remainder of the charges, the jury found the protesters not guilty. The Sheriff Gimblet was extensively criticised for the way in she had directed the jury to return not guilty verdicts. It was felt that this judgement would give the green light to other peace protesters to carry out similar acts as part of their ongoing nuclear disarmament campaign.

The Lord Advocate, therefore, felt it necessary to refer the case to the High Court for clarification where it was held that the protesters were not justified in their actions.

A link to the opinion of the Appeal Court can be found below:

http://tridentploughshares.org/lar-opinion-of-the-court/

The three Loch Goil anti-nuclear protesters had some recent inspiration for their actions from their colleagues. In January 1996, four protestors (part of the Ploughshares group) had broken into a British Aerospace facility and destroyed the controls of a Hawk Jet which was bound for Indonesia. The Indonesians, at this time, ruled East Timor (now an independent state) and were engaged in a bitter armed struggle with East Timor liberation groups.

The protestors claimed that the jet would almost certainly have been used by the Indonesian military as part of their operations in East Timor. By wrecking the jet’s controls with a sledgehammer, the protestors were committing an act of criminal damage (worth an estimated £1.5 million) undoubtedly, but they had done so in order to save lives. They argued that their actions were justified in terms of the UK Genocide Act 1969 (since repealed).

The four women had deliberately filmed the incident and waited at the scene of the crime to be apprehended. You would be forgiven for thinking open and shut case …

… The jury at Liverpool Crown Court acquitted the four protestors of all charges in July 1996 finding that their actions had been reasonable in terms of the Genocide Act.

A video made by the Ploughshares Group about the incident can be found below:

A link to an article The Independent’s website about the conclusion of the protestors’ trial on can be found below:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pounds-15m-hawk-attack-women-freed-1331285.html

History almost repeating itself

Interestingly, almost 21 years later, Sam Walton, a Quaker pacifist was suspected of attempting to disarm a Typhoon fighter jet at a British Aerospace facility which he believed was for the Saudi Arabian Air Force. Walton’s argument was, again, very similar to previous examples of direct action: he was trying to save lives. He argued that there was a high probability that the jet would be used in Saudi military operations in the vicious conflict in the neighbouring country of Yemen.

A link to an article in The Independent about Sam Walton can be found below:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-quaker-activist-sam-walton-pacifist-disarm-saudi-arabia-fighter-jet-bae-uk-yemen-a7555246.html

Historical perspectives

Breaking the law to change it has a long pedigree and the current debate about the tactics of Extinction Rebellion inspired me to review historical situations where people had broken the prevailing law of the land only later to be held up as champions of freedom and progress.

In the last few days, I finally got around to viewing a German film called 13 Minutes (released a few years ago) which was about an attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler on 8 November 1939 in Munich. No spoilers intended (or needed), but the plot failed.

Hitler left the Munich Beer Hall 13 minutes before a bomb, planted in the building by Georg Elser, detonated. People were killed, but not Hitler and the question has persisted as to what would have happened if the assassination had succeeded?

In my humble opinion, I don’t think it would really have mattered as there were plenty of fanatics within the Nazi regime (e.g. Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich) who were more than capable of replacing Hitler and furthering his goals.

I did know that the would be assassin, Elser, had been caught in the aftermath of his failed attempt. What I didn’t know was that Elser survived as a special prisoner in Dachau Concentration Camp until April 1945 when he was murdered (he had, in fact, never been tried by the Nazis). Ironically, he outlived one of his interrogators, SS Police General, Artur Nebe, who was executed in March 1945 for involvement in the Plot to assassinate Hitler in July of the previous year.

Clearly, by the prevailing laws of the Third Reich, Elser was a traitor as he had attempted to kill the then German Head of State. History, however, has been much kinder to Elser and he is now viewed as an anti-Nazi resistance fighter of great courage – not an opportunist as Artur Nebe clearly was.

Chartists and Suffragettes

This led me to think about other situations in the past where people fought for their beliefs by breaking the law e.g. the Chartists in the 19th Century who fought for greater democracy in the UK; and the Suffragettes in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries who campaigned for women to be given the right to vote. Nowadays, the Suffragettes particularly are held up as an example of a group of highly principled and determined people who wanted to overcome a glaring injustice.

It’s often forgotten that the Suffragettes moved quickly from peaceful protests to downright terrorist acts e.g. in 1913, the bombing of a house being built for Lloyd George MP, then Chancellor of the Exchequer (or UK Finance Minister). This was followed by bombs being planted at the Bank of England and in St. Paul’s Cathedral.

According to the historian Lucy Worsley, in 1913 alone, there were 168 arson attempts and bomb attacks carried out by Suffragettes across Britain and Ireland. Worsley estimates that the cost of this damage was £56 million in today’s prices. By February 1914, 1,241 prison sentences had been served by Suffragettes and 165 women who had been on hunger strike had been forcibly fed while in prison (Suffragettes first broadcast on the BBC on 4 June 2018).

Did these acts of violence lead to votes for women? This is very contentious and historians, such as Worsley, point more to the transformative impact of World War I as the real catalyst for social (and legal) change. How so? Very simply, the need to recruit women into areas of the economy which previously had been the almost exclusive preserve of men (who, of course, were away at the Front fighting the War).

Conclusion

So, I suppose the answer to my original question is it ever acceptable to break the law to change it depends on which side of history you end up: whether you’re ultimately a winner or a loser.

It also depends on the methods used to achieve legal change. Figures such as Mahatma Gandhi who worked towards the end of British rule in India are held up as exemplars because they used peaceful methods. Other figures such as Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins of the IRA are still, to this day, regarded as extremely controversial in their pursuit of armed struggle against the British Empire in order to obtain independence for what would eventually become the Republic of Ireland.

In 2016, the centenary of the Easter Rising was marked by the Irish Government in Dublin. The Rising is regarded as one of the corner stones of the modern Irish Republic, but how do you mark or ‘celebrate’ what was undoubtedly a violent event? With great sensitivity is the answer and the Irish Government was widely praised for unveiling a memorial which listed everyone (including Irish Republicans and British Army personnel) who lost their lives as a result of the events of Easter Week 1916.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is 161587273_1462271605.jpg

As for Extinction Rebellion? Well, history will be the judge …

Criminal evidence & vulnerable witnesses

Photo by Marco Albuquerque on Unsplash

Today, the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) Scotland Act 2019 comes into force.

This piece of legislation, passed by the Scottish Parliament, was given Royal Assent in June 2019.

It represents the introduction of an innovative change to Scots criminal law. The new law will permit vulnerable witnesses to pre-record their evidence in advance of trial so that they will not be required to appear in court in person.

According to a Scottish Government press release (see link below), a vulnerable witness is defined in the following terms:

‘[if] they are likely to suffer significant risk of harm as a result of giving evidence. This includes victims of sexual assault, domestic abuse, trafficking and stalking, and those under the age of 18.’

https://www.gov.scot/policies/victims-and-witnesses/pre-recording-of-evidence-criminal-trials/

For children aged under 18, in particular, the Act permits the evidence to be taken by commissioner. This procedure will be disregarded if it would significantly prejudice the interests of justice.

The Scottish Government has noted that the new legislation consolidates changes that were made in 2014 to safeguard the rights of vulnerable witnesses i.e. the Witnesses and Victims (Scotland) Act 2014.

Links to both pieces of legislation can be found below:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/1/contents

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2019/8/enacted

Related Blog Article:

https://seancrossansscotslaw.com/2019/03/20/vulnerable-witnesses/