Lawyer avoids jail after attacking, stalking and harassing woman for 18 months

A lawyer who subjected a woman to an 18-month campaign of abuse has narrowly avoided a jail term.

Alexander Hutcheon assaulted, stalked and harassed the victim as well as demanded sex with her.

She was left, at times, upset and scared of the 71-year-old, who would try to lavish her with expensive trips away, including trips to the luxury Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.

Hutcheon – a wealthy property solicitor in the North East – returned to the dock at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.

He had earlier pled guilty to a charge of engaging in a course of abusive behaviour spanning between June 1, 2022 and January 9, 2024.

Lord Renucci told Hutcheon that he had “indulged in coercive, controlling, aggressive and petulant behaviour”.

The judge added: “Your actions towards her were reprehensible and wholly unacceptable.

“No female should be subjected to such conduct.”

But, Lord Renucci concluded “very much on balance” he had decided not to jail Hutcheon after considering all factors.

The lawyer was instead put on a community payback order involving 200 hours of unpaid work and being supervised for three years.

This will include work on “increasing insight” into his offending and addressing his behaviour.

Hutcheon will also be electronically tagged for eight months, keeping him indoors between 7pm and 7am.

He is banned from contacting or going near the victim for three years.

The judge said the sentence was “not an easy option” and if Hutcheon breached it, he would likely be sent to prison.

The pair had known each other for a number of years, having initially met through his legal work.

They went on to see each other “on and off”.

Prosecutor Michelle Brannagan initially told the court that, in drink-fuelled rages, Hutcheon would often shout and swear at the victim as well as call her names while accusing her of cheating.

The lawyer would buy the woman hotel stays, holidays and designer clothes, telling her he wanted to “improve her wardrobe”.

Ms Brannagan said: “However, when (matters would end), he would destroy those items of clothing by cutting them up.”

Hutcheon would also bombard the woman with messages.

Ms Brannagan said: “The woman provided police with a download of WhatsApp texts exchanged between February 9 and September 17, 2023, which extended to almost 1,500 pages.”

Many of the messages were described as “perfectly ordinary”, but a large amount were also “argumentative” or of a “manipulative, infantile and petulant nature”.

The victim would often try to ignore Hutcheon, including blocking him on social media.

Ms Brannagan said: “When he still received no response, he again began persistently calling the woman and threatening to speak with a solicitor.”

The court heard the pair would exchange consensual “sexual messages”.

But, Hutcheon would be particularly “graphic” and “explicit” at times.

He would persistently ask for sex and, if she refused, the lawyer claimed she was “no fun”.

Ms Brannagan said at one stage the victim was left “tired and fed up” by Hutcheon’s conduct.

The court heard the pair stayed at Gleneagles Hotel in September 2023, where they had an argument, and the woman walked out.

Hutcheon initially wanted her to come back – but then called her a “tink” and a “cow”, claiming he would call the police on her for allegedly stealing keys.

Despite that, the solicitor repeatedly asked the woman to return to carry out a sex act on him.

The court heard of another example of “persistent sexual behaviour”.

During a 15-minute audio recording captured in the woman’s home, Hutcheon appeared to be asking the victim to “sit naked”, which she refused to do.

Hutcheon then ranted at one stage: “Well, there is no point in me staying because you are not going to take your clothes off…so what is the point in me being here?”

The court heard of Hutcheon’s physical violence towards the woman.

He became angry after he demanded sex while they were at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow. Both had taken alcohol.

He went on to boot her on the shin.

Hutcheon then packed all their belongings into his bag, stormed out and told the woman to “just f*** off”.

Ms Brannagan said: “The woman called police, who arrived at the hotel room to find her naked with a sheet wrapped around her. She was in a state of fear and distress.

“The hotel room was also noted to be in a state of disorder.”

The pair also had an argument on a flight back to Scotland from Amsterdam.

They then got separate taxis, however Hutcheon was outside her home when she arrived. The driver described her as “visibly upset” at Hutcheon being there.

The lawyer was spotted shoving the victim when she got to the front door. He could be seen pushing her again when inside.

The driver waited for a few minutes before Hutcheon came out and gestured at him to “f*** off”.

Hutcheon was again physical with the victim while they were at a boxing event in Aberdeen in December 2023, when both had been drinking.

He was seen to snatch her bag and put his arm across her chest, leading to the staff having to split them up

Hutcheon was heard commenting about the woman “speaking to other men”.

Ms Brannagan said: “She was asked by staff to join them and speak with Hutcheon, but she appeared to them to be scared and declined to do so.”

Hutcheon, of Rubislaw, Aberdeen, assaulted the woman during a New Year hotel break in 2024.

He pushed her onto a bed, leaving her in pain from an unrelated pre-existing injury.

The woman called her sister the next day. She was so concerned that she wanted the woman to get a taxi to go to her home.

Hutcheon went on to grab the phone and branded the victim a “dirty little mink”. He hurled the mobile, hitting her in the face.

The laywer was later questioned by police about these incidents, but insisted the woman had a “vivid imagination”.

Hutcheon also hounded the woman while she was at a private Aberdeen gym.

He sent her a string of messages, loitered nearby before moving the woman’s vehicle, which he had bought her.

Hutcheon later texted the woman asking her to join him on holiday, and said he had bought dresses for her.

He also stalked the victim while she was at a beauty salon in a shopping complex in September 2023.

Hutcheon first appeared in the dock in connection with allegations involving the woman in the summer of 2023.

The woman sent a “lengthy” email that year to police claiming she was “experiencing anxiety” at Hutcheon being charged and that she was “unsupportive of a prosecution”.

Ms Brannagan told the court: “In August 2023, further messages demonstrate a dispute between the woman and Hutcheon, where she asks him to ‘stop compiling emails on my behalf’.

“He responded that the email had been dictated by her. The woman disputed that, stating he had asked her to do so.”

Sentencing, Lord Renucci also decided not to put Hutcheon on the sex offenders list