Man wrongfully imprisoned at Barlinnie for week after court error

A court clerk’s error resulted in a man with a lengthy record of jail time being wrongfully imprisoned for a week, a sheriff has heard.

Duncan Welsh has been awarded £3,325 for the mistake, which led to him being sent to HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow between 6 and 13 December 2023.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard how Welsh appeared in private before a sheriff in Glasgow on 6 December after being detained in connection with a “petition matter” – a legal expression given to alleged serious offences.

The court heard how the sheriff granted Welsh bail, but an official mistakenly recorded on court minutes that a bail request had been refused. Welsh was then remanded in custody.

Other officials later realised the error and he was released.

Welsh then instructed lawyers to seek compensation for him at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Bosses at the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Services admitted making the error and breaching Welsh’s human rights in how he was wrongfully detained.

Lawyers for both Welsh and the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service addressed Sheriff Fergus Thomson at proceedings in Edinburgh Sheriff Court last year.

Legal arguments centred on how much Welsh should receive in compensation. His lawyers believed he should receive £10,000 while court bosses argued the compensation should be £1,500.

In a written judgement, Sheriff Thomson said that Mr Welsh had a “lengthy record of periods of detention, both before and after the events of December 2023.”

He concluded that this should be reflected in how much he should receive in compensation.

Sheriff Thomson wrote: “The pursuer was wrongly detained for a period of seven days. It is accepted that he suffered no element of initial shock.

“He had not been wrongly arrested. His initial, short period of custody had not been unlawful. His circumstances were such that he was wholly familiar with the custodial setting.”

However, he then added that the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service had acted unlawfully in detaining him, and that an award of £3,325 would be appropriate.