Court / Maverick campaigner jailed for secret court recordings
SELF-styled campaigner for an independent Shetland, Stuart Hill, was jailed for two months at Kirkwall Sheriff Court after admitting having secretly and illegally recorded court proceedings.
The 77-year-old from Cunningsburgh is standing trial in Orkney after failing to declare election expenses.
Hill stood as an independent candidate during the 2017 UK parliamentary election in which he came last with 245 votes.
In court on Wednesday sheriff Richard McFarlane said he had spotted a passage in Hill’s book Stolen Isles: Shetland’s True Status in which the author claimed to have recorded court proceedings.
Asked if he was recording his current case, Hill confirmed that he was.
When Hill appeared back in court on Thursday he was sentenced to two months behind bars for contempt of court after declining to delete the previous day’s recording from his BlackBerry phone stating he didn’t recognise the sheriff or the court’s authority.
He was also ordered to forfeit his recording device. The election expenses trial continues on 4 March.
If you have been affected by crime, help is available. Whether you are victim, a witness, or the accused, you can find independent, impartial, and confidential support in Shetland.
For victims of general crime:
Victim Support Shetland
Phone: 01595744524 or 0800 1601985
Web: https://victimsupport.scot/locations/victim-support-shetland/
Email: VictimSupportHighlandsIslands@victimsupportsco.org.uk
For anyone affected by crime & harm seeking a restorative approach:
Space2face
Phone: 07564 832467
Web: https://www.space2face.org
Email: info@space2face.org
For anyone affected by gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, coercive control, stalking, sexual assault, and rape:
Shetland Women’s Aid
Phone: 01595 692070
Web: https://www.shetlandwa.org
Email: office@shetlandwa.org
The Compass Centre (Shetland Rape Crisis)
Phone: 01595 744402 or 08088 010302
Web: https://www.compasscentre.org
Email: contact@compasscentre.org
For anyone affected by substance use:
Shetland Recovery Hub and Community Network
Phone: 01595 744402
Web: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075791869200
Email: recoveryhub@shetland.gov.uk
Shetland Alcohol & Drug Partnership
Phone: 01595 743060 or 07342 077789
Web: https://shetlandadp.org.uk
Email: shet.sadp@nhs.scot
Substance Use Recovery Service
Phone: 01595 743006
