Baronet alleged to have been murder target dies

An elderly baronet has died, 12 days after a woman appeared in court charged with attempting to murder him.

The funeral of Sir Peter Craft Hutchison who died “peacefully”, according to a death notice, will be held at the end of this week.

The 83-year-old hereditary 2nd Baronet Hutchison of Rossie was a celebrated botanist and a past chairman of the Forestry Commission Scotland.

Last month, a woman won a rare court order granting her anonymity after she appeared in court accused of attempting to murder Sir Peter. A sheriff issued the order prohibiting the publication of any reports of any legal proceedings mentioning her name.

She made no plea, and was committed for further examination and granted bail.

The notice published last Tuesday said Sir Peter died on January 20, and his funeral will be held on Friday in Kippen Parish Church.

His father, the late Sir James Riley Holt Hutchison, was nicknamed “the Pimpernel of the Maquis” for his work with the French Resistance during the Second World War.