Man sent to Barlinnie after court clerk error awarded £3,000 in compensation

A man has been awarded over £3,300 after a court clerk’s error resulted in him being wrongfully imprisoned for a week.

Duncan Welsh, who has a “lengthy” criminal record, was sent to HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow between December 6 and December 13, 2023.

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

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

This resulted in Welsh being wrongfully detained in custody until other officials realised the error.

Welsh instructed lawyers to seek compensation for him at the 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.

In a written judgement published on Thursday, Sheriff Thomson said that 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.

“In detaining the pursuer, the defender acted unlawfully in a manner incompatible with a Convention right.

“The pursuer having suffered loss and damage, it is just and appropriate to award him damages and necessary to do so to afford just satisfaction.

“Having taken into account the principles applied by the European Court of Human Rights in relation to an award of compensation, an award of £3,325 is appropriate.”