Pregnant pause hits court case as judge tries to uncover truth

Catherine Haney, daughter of the notorious Stirling matriarch, Margaret "Big Mags" Haney, faces being locked up for verbally abusing the high-profile QC, Donald Findlay, during a murder trial.

She says she is expecting a child, but not even her own doctor has been able to confirm it, and Lord Hardie remains to be convinced

So, in what is thought to be an unprecedented move, the judge has called for a medical report to settle the issue once and for all.

"I have never heard of anything like this," said Joe Beltrami, who had more than 50 years of experience as a solicitor in the criminal law before retiring.

"I can see Lord Hardie's point. He is just testing her credibility, which he is entitled to do. He is not prepared to accept she is pregnant out of her own mouth. One way of getting that is through an independent doctor examining her and saying whether or not there is a pregnancy. Of course, if she refuses, you cannot physically do anything to her. It would count against her, the fact she has not been co-operative," said Mr Beltrami.

Haney, 39, was a witness at a murder trial in the High Court in Glasgow six weeks ago. Two women, Donna Murphy, 49, and Rose Heron, 59, were accused of killing Connor Malcolm, 49, in Heron's flat in the Shettleston area of the city in January last year.

Mr Findlay appeared for Murphy and questioned Haney about her claims in evidence that while in Cornton Vale Prison together, she had heard Murphy admit to the attack. During the exchange, Haney made a comment about Mr Findlay singing sectarian songs.

Lord Hardie said Haney had been "extremely offensive" in her remark, and she had also adopted a persistently argumentative approach and had repeatedly avoided questions. He held her to be in contempt of court and she spent a week in jail before being freed pending sentencing.

Yesterday, the defence solicitor-advocate, James Mulgrew, said it was accepted that the court must disapprove of Haney's conduct.

Mr Mulgrew stated that Haney was five months' pregnant. Lord Hardie interrupted to point out that it was said in the background report that there was no confirmation of a pregnancy.

"The social worker was in touch with her GP, and the GP was unaware of her being heavily pregnant. I would want to hear some independent evidence she is pregnant," said Lord Hardie.

Mr Mulgrew agreed there was currently no such evidence, and Lord Hardie said he would continue the case for two weeks to obtain a medical report to confirm she was pregnant.

Sniffing out dodgy excuses

An accused's explanation for a crime can often provide moments of light relief in the solemnity of a courtroom.

A robber once said he had been walking along a canal bank when it started to rain. He saw a plastic carrier bag lying at the side of the path and picked it up to put on his head to keep him dry. Lo and behold, he discovered a sawn-off shotgun inside the bag and, reasoning that he was short of money and it would be a shame to waste such an opportunity, he went off to find the nearest post office.

A man who legged it from a car as he was being transported to prison blamed the escape on body odour. He was in the back seat with a fellow prisoner whose personal hygiene left a lot to be desired, he said. He hadn't intended to do a runner but the smell became so bad that, when the car stopped at a set of lights, he seized the chance to lower the window, open the door from the outside, and flee.

Another blamed breaking into a cat-and-dog home on nostalgia for his childhood.