Harper proved a key figure in two high- profile trials
HE led one of only two successful private prosecutions in the 20th century and was the foremost criminal lawyer of his day.
In a glittering career, Ross Harper was also a major figure in politics and business.
He had co- founded the legendary Glasgow legal firm of Ross Harper & Murphy in 1961 and at its peak had more than 20 offices across Scotland until it closed its doors in 2012.
At various points in his career, Harper was also Chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, President of the Law Society of Scotland and the International Bar Association and Professor of Law at Strathclyde University.
His firm became well- known for adverts which portrayed supposed clients getting caught up in unfortunate scenarios.
It ended with a voiceover telling them: “You’d better call Ross Harper.”
Harper was also a key figure in two of Scotland’s most high- profile trials of the 1970s – the Rotary Tools scandal and the Albany Drugs Case.
However, his career- defining moment was representing a gang rape victim in the landmark Carol X case in 1982.
The decision not to prosecute became a major political scandal and prompted the resignation of the then- solicitor general Sir Nicholas Fairbairn.
The woman who became known as Carol X was walking home in Barrowfield in Glasgow’s East End on October, 1980.
She was confronted by three thugs who dragged her into a disused metal storage container on nearby wasteground.
Carol, 31, was repeatedly raped and then slashed with a razor leaving her needing more than 150 stitches. There was a wealth of evidence against the rapists.
A fourth youth who was with them that evening agreed to give evidence in return for immunity from prosecution.
The Crown Office however caused public outrage and a media frenzy by dropping the case and the charges.
Senior prosecutors had become concerned at Carol’s mental fragility in the lead- up to the trial in May 1981.
There were said to be misgivings about her reliability as a witness because of her alcoholism and accusations she was a prostitute.
As a result, the Crown Office decided not to go ahead with the trial. But the mother- ofthree fought for justice and got it less than a year later through a groundbreaking private prosecution.
It was one of only two to succeed in Scotland in the 20th century. The other involved a fraud case in 1909.
It led to Joseph Sweeney, then 18, and his two 16- year- old accomplices being put on trial at the High Court in Edinburgh in 1982.
Sweeney got 12 years for rape and assault, while the two other accused, one his brother, were convicted of indecent assault.
Carol also received £ 25,000 compensation after her court victory but her drinking is said to have taken every penny.
And when she died in 2003, she was still on the streets – even though the council had given her a home.
Carol X led to a sea change in the way rape cases were treated in the Scottish courts.
Harper featured the case in his 2016 biography, Beyond Reasonable Doubt. He wrote: “Every lawyer wants to make legal history. Carol had insisted on me representing her. But my main concern was if she was fit enough to give evidence.
“I met her and she had been through this trauma. scarred, devastated and traumatised. But the one thing she wanted was that she didn’t want these guys to get away.
“I was worried she wouldn’t be able to stand up in court. I was anxious right up until the time she gave evidence.
“In the event, she not only survived the ordeal of the court but despite the severe emotions and vivid memories, survived well.”
By 2016, Harper retired to Australia with his wife and family.
He added: “Carol could have got more money, in my view, but she took the first offer.
“It could have and should have changed her life. I never heard from her again.”
Another famous Harper case involved allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct in high places.
In the early 1970s, Maurice Cochrane’s Rotary Tools firm had signed a string of lucrative contracts with the state- run National Coal Board, Scotts Shipbuilders in Greenock and the giant Chrysler car plant in Linwood, Renfrewshire.
Rotary Tools clients entertained at the Excelsior Hotel at Glasgow Airport were not just wined and dined.
They were also provided with the sexual services of young women, shown blue movies, and offered bribes.
In 1973, Cochrane, who also liked to be known as Big
Jim, hosted the biggest party ever seen in Glasgow.
More than 4000 guests enjoyed a night of entertainment and booze said to have cost Cochrane £ 47,000 – £ 500,000 in today’s money.
The legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie had even been flown in from the
USA to entertain the guests.
The party at Rotary’s new city- centre HQ in Brown Street in Glasgow went on until 5am with people still queuing at 2am to get in.