Back to court for QC in sectarian football songs row

DONALD FINDLAY, the Scottish QC who has resigned as vice-chairman of Rangers Football Club after being videoed singing sectarian songs, returned to court yesterday.

At the High Court in Glasgow Mr Findlay was representing Kim Galbraith, 30, who is accused of murdering her husband, a police officer. He declined to comment on his resignation when he arrived, saying: "I've got a client to defend."

The allegations against Mr Findlay are highly inflammatory in a city still riven with tensions between Catholic and Protestant football fans. Rangers are considered Glasgow's "Protestant" team. Tensions have been high since the last match of the season saw Rangers seize the championship from their rivals in an Old Firm derby which left the referee injured by a flying coin and saw three players sent off.

However, Celtic and Rangers were supposed to have joined forces in an effort to clampdown on sectarian bigotry between fans.

Mr Findlay's singing followed Rangers securing of the treble on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup final. After that match, Thomas McFadden, a 16-year Celtic fan, was stabbed to death. During a party at Rangers' Ibrox ground, Mr Findlay, 48, a leading Scottish advocate, is reported to have sung sectarian songs, including "The Sash", "Follow Follow", "Derry's Walls" and "The Billy Boys".

In a resignation statement, Mr Findlay said: "The events of Saturday night were a serious misjudgment on my part. It was a private function to celebrate a successful season. It is disappointing that someone attending should have felt it necessary to go to the press. However, even at such a function, my conduct was not acceptable and I ought to have realised this.

"I regret any harm done to the club I care about deeply. I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused to anyone. I will continue to be the Rangers supporter I am."

Mr Findlay's speedy resignation has gone some way to calming frayed tempers in Glasgow. Father Tom Connelly, spokesman for the Catholic church in Scotland, said: "It is very sad that a senior official would behave like that, but he's done the honourable thing in resigning."

It appears that Mr Findlay had little choice. According to the Daily Record, the Scottish tabloid newspaper that broke the story, the video of Saturday night's events shows Mr Findlay saying: "You know at Ibrox we don't have anything to do with that sectarian stuff anymore" before launching into his array of songs.

Other people are alleged to have joined in the singing and there is now a public debate in Scotland about whether these people should also face the consequences for their behaviour.

Mr Findlay is regarded as Scotland's leading criminal lawyer, respected for his skills in cross-examination. He has represented clients on both sides of the sectarian divide. In 1996, he defended Jason Campbell, who was convicted of murdering a Celtic supporter by slashing him across the throat. He has also represented members of the IRA and the Scottish National Liberation Army.

However, his other activities have landed him in trouble before. He faced criticism for his first novel, Three Verdicts, in which the main Catholic characters were criminals and the heroes were Protestants.

Threatening to sue anyone who called him a bigot, Mr Findlay has, however, proudly paraded his Rangers' allegiance, stating that: "If Celtic never won another game it would be a source of enormous rejoicing to me".

Deborah Orr,

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