There WAS a paedophile ring at heart of Scots legal establishment, police believe
FIVE top lawyers would have faced charges had they still been alive ++ Named as Tory grandee Fairbairn, a sheriff, two advocates and victim’s father ++ Sixth figure, ex-QC living abroad, may still face extradition
COMPELLING evidence of a paedophile ring at the heart of the Scottish legal establishment in the 1970s and 80s has been uncovered by detectives. A Police Scotland inquiry was sparked in 2014 when Susan Henderson made a series of allegations against some of the country’s most prominent lawyers.
As well as describing how she had been repeatedly raped as a child by her father, a high-profile QC, she claimed she had been abused by a number of his friends – including former senior prosecutor and government minister Sir Nicholas Fairbairn.
Now The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that – after a fiveyear police inquiry into the
allegations – the authorities are taking action and seeking to extradite one of the men accused by Ms Henderson in a bid to bring him to Scotland to face prosecution.
Five of the men she accused of raping her – including her father, Fairbairn, a former sheriff and two advocates – are now dead.
But in a briefing with Ms Henderson last week, detectives said that the evidence uncovered by their investigation would have been strong enough to prosecute the men for child sex offences.
The developments are a significant boost for the married care worker as it shows her allegations have been believed – even though the men she accused are from Scotland’s legal elite.
In a further sign that her account is accepted by the justice system, we can reveal that Ms Henderson, 52, has recently been awarded criminal injuries compensation. Last night, she said: ‘I am grateful to the investigation team involved in my case 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 I have been believed.
‘The police told me that in relation to Fairbairn, my father and the other abusers who have died, they had gathered enough information, including evidence from other sources, that corroborated my claims and would have led to charges.
‘In relation to one retired QC who is still alive but living abroad, they have initiated extradition proceedings.
‘This involves sending details of my allegations and the evidence gathered by police to the authorities in that country to enable them to make a decision on whether he should be extradited to face trial here.
‘Given that other victims have come forward, I am hopeful he will be prosecuted.’
Ms Henderson told police that between the ages of three and 12, she had been repeatedly raped by her father, Robert Henderson – a flamboyant and controversial figure regarded as Scotland’s top QC in the late 1970s and 1980s – and a number of his friends in the legal profession.
As well as Fairbairn, who died aged 61 in 1995, and her father, who died in 2012 at 75, she also alleged she was a victim of Sheriff Andrew Lothian, QC, and the advocates Raymond Fraser and Lawrence Nisbet.
Fairbairn was Tory MP for Kinross and Western Perthshire and a favourite of Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister.
Later, as solicitor general – Scotland’s second most senior prosecutor – he would have taken decisions on prosecuting child sex offenders.
LOTHIAN, who died aged 74 in July 2016, quit his post after it emerged that he was using prostitutes at an Edinburgh sauna and paying them to spank him. He was an alcoholic and was exposed as a wife-beater by this newspaper in 2001. Despite testimony from his then wife, Harriet, and their children – backed up by medical evidence – the Crown refused to prosecute him.
He continued to dispense justice from the bench, including dealing with other domestic abusers and sex offenders, until he was disgraced by the sauna revelations and forced to quit in 2008.
Fraser, also an alcoholic, died of cancer aged 55 in 2002. He was disciplined numerous times by the Faculty of Advocates for his conduct, which included being charged with shoplifting.
Nisbet was also a noted bon-viveur of the legal world but had a heart attack and died aged 45 in 1993.
Two detectives visited Ms Henderson at her home in the North last week to brief her on the outcome of their investigation and to reassure her that her story had been believed.
This has been underlined by a decision earlier this year by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to award Ms Henderson the maximum payout, of £22,000, for victims of sexual crimes.
CICA operates a tariff system and the maximum award for a single incident of rape is £11,000. This can be doubled for victims who suffer multiple assaults.
A letter from CICA to Ms Henderson states the decision was reached ‘based on the information you provided, evidence provided by the police and your medical records’.
Ms Henderson said: ‘The award by CICA is secondary to my desire for real justice, but still important
because it emphasises that I have been telling the truth.
‘Obviously, my father and the others who have died have got away with it, but I still hope that justice can be done on the living.
‘The sexual abuse of a child is the most awful crime and has a devastating effect on the rest of the child’s life. I know that from bitter experi
ence as I had my childhood stolen and it affects me every day.
‘I am glad that the police intend to pursue one of my abusers even though he lives abroad and the proceedings to bring him home might be complex.
‘From what I have been told, there is a very good chance of justice being done in his case. Even seeing one of the men who ruined my life prosecuted and jailed would give me some satisfaction.’
Ms Henderson has spoken out previously about the horrifying abuse she endured.
She said she would dread her father coming home from work early, having stopped at a bar first. Telling his wife he was going for a nap, he would take his daughter with him, placing a pillow over her head to keep her quiet.
As a child, she arranged her dolls all around her bed in the forlorn hope that if her father came to her in the night, he would not be able to tell her from the toys.
She had not yet started primary school when he began offering her to his friends. In 2014 she said that she hated Fairbairn more than she hated her father, adding: ‘He just really wasn’t a nice man.’
She added: ‘No child should go through what I did.
‘With so many of the men dead, even a positive outcome for me might seem hollow, but even one person on trial, having to account for what he was part of and what he did to me, would mean a lot.’
Police Scotland referred The Scottish Mail on Sunday to the Crown Office for comment.
The Crown Office said it considered that the case against the retired QC being pursued for extradition was active, so it would be making no further comment.