CAR BOMB WIDOW SUES SHERIFF IN £750,000 BATTLE
VICTIM’S FAMILY SEEK DAMAGES FROM LAW FIRM Lawyer faces claim over his advice on US pension rights
A sheriff is being sued by the widow of an engineer killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
Rhona Chrystal has launched a sixfigure claim against Peter Watson, 64, and his former law firm Levy & McRae. Her husband John Eardley, 56, was killed when an insurgent exploded a car bomb at a checkpoint in Baghdad in 2005, two years after the invasion of Iraq. John was employed by a UK f irm working on behalf of America, which meant that Rhona, 63, received a widow’s pension from the US government. But after remarrying in 2011, Rhona’s pension payments were stopped. The basis of the action are claims that the legal advice Watson gave to Rhona about her pension rights was inadequate. Her lawyer David Short, of Balfour+Manson, has lodged a summons at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, thought to be seeking damages of about £ 750,000 from Watson and other Levy & McRae partners. Rhona, 63, of Newton Mearns, near Glasgow, declined to comment.
A source said: “Losing her husband in such a horrific attack was devastating and no amount of money will change that. But when the pension ended, life became even more difficult for Rhona and her daughter.
“Essentially, the case hinges on the legal advice given to Rhona before she remarried. She cannot afford to risk jeopardising the case. It has taken years and she is desperate for it to be resolved.”
John was due to work on electricity, gas and water projects in Iraq but was killed by a car bomb hours after his arrival.
He was one of four civilians who died when their vehicle was targeted by an insurgent while driving from the airport towards the safety of the green zone.
American consultant Tracy Hushin and British private security guards Nicholas Pears and John Dolman, a former paratrooper, were also killed.
Watson is one of Scotland’s most prominent lawyers, whose clients have included former FM Alex Salmond and ex-Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini.
He was previously appointed to a panel created by Salmond to look into press regulation in Scotland.
The solicitor also sits as a part-time sheriff but was suspended from the bench in February 2015 after being sued over the collapsed Heather Capital hedge fund run by ex-lawyer Gregory King.
Paul Duffy — liquidator for King’s £400million finance firm — sued Watson and some other Levy & McRae lawyers. Duffy sought £28.4million damages but he abandoned the claim in March.
Scotland’s top judge Lord Carloway had been considering if Watson should return to his duties as a sheriff and he was reinstated to the bench on Thursday.
The Judicial Office for Scotland said: “Following the extra judicial settlement of the Heather Capital action in which Peter Watson was named as one of the defenders, the Lord President has lifted the suspension imposed upon him.”
Levy & McRae refused to comment but it’s understood they are defending the action. Watson declined to comment.
When the US pension ended, life became even more difficult