Former QC held in US over links to an alleged Scots paedophile ring
A LAWYER faces extradition from the US over claims linked to an alleged paedophile ring within the Scottish legal system.
The former QC was detained by police in America, where he now lives.
The 70-year-old is being held in custody ahead of an extradition hearing to determine if he can be returned to Scotland to face abuse charges against four children.
It follows a police investigation into claims a network of paedophiles was operating within the Scottish legal system in the 1970s and 80s.
An inquiry was triggered in 2014 when Susan Henderson made a series of allegations against some of the country’s most prominent lawyers.
She also described how she had been repeatedly raped as a child by her father, Robert Henderson, a high-profile QC who died aged 75 in 2012.
She claimed she was also abused by a number of his friends, including former senior prosecutor and government minister, Sir Nicholas Fairbairn.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday yesterday revealed that the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is one of those she had accused.
Following a request from his former employer, the Crown Office, he was arrested at his US home on July 8.
At a bail hearing he was said to be a flight risk and has been held in custody.
He is expected to appear at an extradition hearing next month. If he is returned to Scotland he would face charges of lewd and libidinous practices against four children, as well as a charge of rape.
Miss Henderson has waived her legal right to anonymity.
Court documents show that the alleged offences against Miss Henderson happened when she was aged between seven and 12.
The lawyer, who worked as prosecutor in Scotland in the 1990s, is also accused of sex attacks against three other alleged child victims, two female and one male.
One girl was aged between six and nine at the time of the alleged offence and the other was between the ages of nine and 12.
The boy was eight to ten at the time of an alleged assault. All the offences are said to have taken place between 1973 and 1987.
Mother-of-one Miss Henderson, a 53-year-old carer who lives in the north of Scotland, was told last year the Crown would seek the QC’s extradition and welcomed the news. She said: ‘I am grateful to the investigation team involved in my case
‘Hopeful he will be prosecuted’
since 2014 for the thoroughness and compassion they have shown.’
‘It is an enormous relief to know my story has been placed under rigorous scrutiny and that I have been believed.
‘In relation to one retired QC who is still alive, but living abroad, they have initiated extradition proceedings.
‘Given that other victims have come forward, I am hopeful he will be prosecuted.’
Miss Henderson did not want to make any further comment until the case concludes.
Police Scotland and the Crown Office began to prepare for the extradition request more than a year ago and an order for the man’s arrest was granted in May last year.
Last year, police investigating Miss Henderson’s allegations found evidence backing her claims of a paedophile ring.
Detectives told her they had found evidence against five men, all now dead, that would have been enough to bring charges. If her father had been still alive, officers are confident a criminal case would have been brought against him.
They also had enough evidence to prosecute 61-year-old Fairbairn, who died in 1995, Sheriff Andrew Lothian, QC, and advocates Raymond Fraser and Lawrence Nisbet.
Lothian, who died aged 74 in 2016, was forced to quit in 2008 after it emerged he had paid prostitutes to spank him. Fraser died of cancer in 2002, aged 55, while Nisbet died in 1993, aged 45.
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: ‘Extradition proceedings are ongoing and we cannot comment further.’