A blonde moment? That’s sexist, says sheriff
IT was the movie that made Reese Witherspoon a star as a ditsy blonde who shows she has a brain in her head by becoming a successful lawyer.
But when Legally Blonde references were made in a Scottish court yesterday, it earned one male lawyer a ticking-off from a sheriff.
At Stirling Sheriff Court, solicitor Frazer McCready had spotted a slip in a letter sent out by his office in relation to a case of alleged drink-driving and explained: ‘I think my secretary was having a blonde moment.’ But his comment was immediately picked up by Sheriff Kenneth Hogg, who interjected: ‘Mr McCready, that’s hugely sexist.’
Mr McCready, who has dark-brown hair, sought to mitigate, saying: ‘Well, I have blonde moments myself.’ But Sheriff Hogg dismissed his excuse: ‘I have never noticed you having a blonde moment.’
The case against Mr McCready’s client, Steven Hogg, 24, of Stirling, who is accused of driving an Audi A while more than three times the drink- driving limit in March, was continued without plea until December 16.
Afterwards, a court insider said: ‘The sheriff wasn’t being angry with Frazer McCready – he smiled as he said it. But you can’t get away with anything these days – even though blondes, as anyone knows, come in both sexes.’
Last month, fair-haired First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled her new Cabinet with an equal split of male and female ministers, vowing to fight for ‘gender equality’.