Donald Russell Findlay
KC (born 17 March 1951) is a Scottish advocate. He has also held positions as a vice-chairman of
Rangers Football Club
Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fou ...
and twice
Rector of the University of St Andrews
The Lord Rector of the University of St Andrews is the president of the University Court of the University of St Andrews; the University Court is the supreme governing body of the University.
Overview
The Rector is elected every three years by ...
. He is now chairman of his hometown football club
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...
.
He is well known for a distinctive style of dress and manner, particularly the smoking of a
pipe
Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:
Objects
* Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
** Piping, the use of pipes in industry
* Smoking pipe
** Tobacco pipe
* Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
, as well as his staunch support for
Unionism in Scotland
Unionism in Scotland () is a political movement which favours the continuation of the political union between Scotland and the other countries of the United Kingdom (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), and hence is opposed to Scottish indep ...
and the
Scottish Conservatives
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...
. He has faced some controversy over several incidents where he sang songs and told allegedly
sectarian jokes.
Personal life
Donald Findlay was born on 17 March 1951 in
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...
, Fife, the son of a church
beadle
A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties on the ...
. He was subsequently educated at
Harris Academy
Harris Academy is a co-educational comprehensive school in the West End of Dundee, Scotland. Harris Academy was founded in 1885 and is the oldest state school in Dundee. Harris Academy is also one of the largest state run schools in Dundee in ...
in Dundee, and later at the
University of Dundee
, mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord"
, established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College
, ...
and at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
. His academic links with the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
(of which Dundee was once part) saw him elected as Lord Rector in 1993 and again in 1996. After his retirement from this position, he took the position of Chancellor of the University's
Strafford Club. St Andrews, allegedly, dropped plans to award him an honorary degree after one of his controversial outbursts. At this time, he was also noted to be suffering from severe depression and later revealed that he had contemplated suicide.
Findlay is an
atheist.
In the mid-1990s he left his third wife Jennie to set up house with the ''
Reporting Scotland
''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the BBC Pacific Quay, headquarters of BBC Scotland at Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
History
Although BBC Television was esta ...
'' television reporter
Paddy Christie
Patrick Christie ( ga, Pádraig Mac Críosta; born 1976 in Dublin) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player who tended to occupy the full-back position for his club Ballymun Kickhams and at senior level for the Dublin county te ...
. This relationship later foundered.
In May 2011, Findlay was sent a parcel in the post to Cowdenbeath football club where he is chairman.
Initially it was thought to contain a bomb but it was later revealed to contain a knife.
Career
As a boy, Findlay was influenced to become a lawyer by following the trial of
Peter Manuel and by watching the TV series ''
Boyd Q.C.''.
A combination of high-profile controversies, acute legal skills and a well-cultivated image has generated Findlay a lot of coverage in the Scottish press in recent years and he now has one of the highest legal profiles in Scotland and widely considered to be Scotland's premier criminal law advocate.
He took silk, becoming a
King's Counsel in 1988, but his behaviour has been censured by the
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...
on more than one occasion (see below). He has served as a defence lawyer in many high-profile murder cases including
Jodi Jones,
Mark Scott and the
Kriss Donald murder trials. He represented
Peter Tobin
Peter Britton Tobin (27 August 1946 – 8 October 2022) was a Scottish convicted serial killer and sex offender who served a whole life order at HM Prison Edinburgh for three murders committed between 1991 and 2006. Police also investigated Tob ...
, the murderer of
Angelika Kluk in the so-called "body in the church" case. Findlay is a member of the
Optimum Advocates
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
.
At present, he is also a noted
after-dinner speaker and in 1997 was a high-profile campaigner on behalf of the unsuccessful Think Twice campaign which supported a double-no vote in the
Scottish devolution referendum.
In 2006, he was a defence counsel in the trial of
Mohammed Atif Siddique
Mohammed Atif Siddique is a Scottish prisoner who was found guilty, but later cleared on appeal, of one of his convictions "collecting terrorist-related information, setting up websites...and circulating inflammatory terrorist publications", res ...
, which saw the youth sentenced to eight years' imprisonment for collecting and sharing online information about terrorists. Donald Findlay successfully appealed this conviction in January 2010. In April 2010 following an eight-week trial he secured the acquittal of the English solicitor Marshall Ronald in the infamous Da Vinci recovery trial.
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
based newspaper
''Daily Record'' reported that Donald Findlay was one of the highest paid lawyers in 2007, earning £350,000 from his high-profile cases.
In June 2010 Findlay was elected chairman of the Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association.
Controversies
Findlay is an
atheist, but is mostly noted in Scotland for his support of
Rangers, a historically
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
football club, and for engaging in controversial behaviour that has been widely interpreted as being
anti-Catholic
Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...
in nature.
In May 1999 he was accused of sectarianism, after being filmed singing
The Sash at a private party organised by a Rangers Supporters Club. For his role in this event, Findlay resigned from the board of the club. After this incident Findlay admitted to feeling so pursued by the media portrayal of him that he had even considered suicide.
In May 2005, shortly after the death of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, while speaking at
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...
Rangers Social Club in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
he said "It's very smoky in here tonight – has another f***ing Pope died?" ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...
'' reported that he went on to tell a vulgar joke about a nun, while ''
The Herald'' reported that his routine was "alleged to have been littered with obscenities and jokes about Catholics" although Findlay has stated that he also made jokes about
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
and about the Protestant clergyman and politician
Ian Paisley. It is believed that the
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...
passed a vote of no confidence on him following the controversy over his comments. He was also fined £3,500 by the Faculty of Advocates.
Findlay was cleared of an allegation of misconduct before the
Faculty of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constit ...
in 2007 following a complaint regarding his conduct at the Rangers Supporters Club in
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...
and contribution to a book entitled ''How Soccer Explains The World – An Unlikely Theory of Globalisation''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, Donald
1951 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Dundee
Scottish atheists
Chairmen and investors of football clubs in Scotland
Rectors of the University of St Andrews
Rangers F.C. non-playing staff
People from Cowdenbeath
Members of the Faculty of Advocates
Scottish King's Counsel
People educated at Harris Academy
Cowdenbeath F.C.