Joseph Beltrami (15 May 1932 – 24 February 2015) was a Scottish lawyer of Italian-Swiss descent. He is acknowledged as one of the foremost criminal solicitors in Scottish legal history.

Early life and family

Beltrami was born in

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

on 15 May 1932. His father, Egidio Beltrami, was an Italian-Swiss man who had moved to Scotland to open a

fish and chip shop A fish and chip shop, sometimes referred to as a chip shop, is a (often fast food) restaurant that specialises in selling fish and chips. Usually, fish and chip shops provide takeaway service, although some have seating facilities. Fish and c ...

, his mother Isabella was Scottish. Beltrami was brought up in Glasgow and educated at St. Aloysius' College. He graduated the University of Glasgow in 1953 having studied Law. He struggled to find an apprenticeship at a legal firm, due to his

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

heritage, so after a period in the Intelligence Corps for his

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in the 1950s, he set up his own firm Beltrami & Co. Beltrami married nurse Brigid Delores Fallon on 14 January 1958 at

St Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew or Glasgow Metropolitan Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Cathedral in the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow. The cathedral, whic ...

, and the couple had three sons who each went on to become lawyers. Edwin is the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal advi ...

in Wales, Adrian is a KC specialising in commercial litigation, and Jason is a lawyer in Glasgow. He died, aged 82 on 23 February 2015.

Career

Beltrami was involved in several high-profile cases, including the campaign for the release of Patrick Meehan. He defended such names as

Johnny Ramensky Johnny Ramensky MM, also known as John Ramsay, Gentleman Johnny, and Gentle Johnny (6 April 1906 – 4 November 1972) was a Scottish career criminal who used his safe-cracking abilities as a commando during the Second World War. A popular song ...

, Colin Beattie and gained the first ever Royal Pardon issued in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

defending Maurice Swanson. Beltrami's most famous "client" was

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

, a trained grizzly bear, who featured in

Octopussy ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...

. The bear disappeared during filming of an Kleenex tissue advert on

Benbecula Benbecula (; gd, Beinn nam Fadhla or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a ...

, and was missing for over three weeks. His owner, Andy Robin, was prosecuted for failing to control a wild animal, but Beltrami successfully defended the man on the basis that Hercules was not wild as he was a "working bear". He successfully defended Glasgow crime figure Arthur Thompson on many occasions throughout the 1980s, leading to the phrase "get me Beltrami" being coined as a plea for help in desperate circumstances amongst Glaswegians during the time. Before the abolition of the death penalty in 1965, Beltrami successfully defended in 12 capital murder cases with all 12 of his client's not having to trouble the hangman.

Works

*''The Defender: Joseph Beltrami, Famous Cases of the Celebrated Criminal Lawyer.'' (1980) *''The Defender: Tales of the Suspected'' (1988) *''A Deadly Innocence: The Meechan Files'' (1989)

Honours and Recognitions

* 1953 - Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Glasgow, Scotland * 2009 - Honorary Life Membership of the Law Society of Scotland

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beltrami, Joseph Scottish lawyers Alumni of the University of Glasgow People educated at St Aloysius' College, Glasgow Scottish people of Italian descent Scottish people of Swiss descent 1932 births 2015 deaths People from Rutherglen