Sheriff off the bench due to sex claims

A SHERIFF has been suspended after police launched a probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Sheriff Jack Brown has been removed from the bench in Aberdeen while an inquiry is carried out into the claims, which are understood to stem from a complaint by a Crown Office employee.

A police spokesman said: ‘We have commenced a criminal investigation which is at the early stages and we are unable to comment further.’

A spokesman for the judiciary said: ‘We can confirm that Sheriff Jack Brown is presently suspended from office.’

Sheriff Brown was appointed to the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highlands and Islands in a full-time role in September 2016. He had been working as a part-time sheriff since 2005.

A graduate of the University of Dundee, he completed his traineeship with the city’s council, before working first with Messrs J&J Hunter and then becoming a partner in Messrs Shaw and Co.

Since 1996, he was the principal in his own practice, and in 2003, was appointed as a solicitor advocate. He was appointed on the recommendation of the First Minister on the basis of a report by the Judicial Appointments Board.

It is not clear when the complaint was made or when his suspension started.