Drug shamed lawyer Angela Baillie will spend almost three years in jail after being sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday (20th April).
The sentence was handed down after Baillie was found guilty of carrying drugs, including heroin and diazepam, to a convicted criminal in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow.
Defending QC Paul McBride argued that Baillie had been coerced into delivering the drugs to the man by his mother, who had visited Bailie at her home in Newton Mearns during which she also requested that Baillie store a handgun for her.
McBride went on that the request was made in such a way that had Baillie tried to refuse she would have faced severe consequences from the family of the convict. She carried the cigarette packet packed with drugs into Barlinnie last October.
During sentencing Lord Kinclaven told Baillie that all of the mitigating factors did not excuse her from her responsibility. He added: “I have to bear in mind you were a solicitor and officer of the court. You were in a position of trust.
“Your case, like many others, clearly illustrates the tragedies and devastation that can be caused by involvement with drugs and the drugs trade. The quantities of drugs made it plain they were not for personal use. They were for supply in the prison system generally.”
He went on that had she not pleaded guilty to the charges she would have faced a sentence of four years as opposed to 32 months.
The Law Society’s convenor of its professional conduct committee Martin McAllister said: “Angela Baillie grossly breached the trust placed in her by the public, the profession and the courts of Scotland.
“Whatever the circumstances of Ms Baillie’s case she has committed a serious crime which goes against the very core values of being a solicitor, trust and honesty.”