Solicitor walks free after he’s cleared of glassing daughter

A SOLICITOR has been acquitted by a sheriff over a claim he glassed his daughter during a violent argument at his house.

Robert Fairbairn, 53, was found not guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday on a charge that he assaulted occupational therapist Laura Clancy, 31, in September 2011.

Mr Fairbairn walked free after a day-long trial in which Sheriff Douglas Allan heard it alleged that the lawyer smashed a pint tumbler over Miss Clancy’s head on September 24 last year.

She alleged that Mr Fairbairn, who has been practising law since 1981, struck her with the glass during a confrontation at his home in Edinburgh’s Craigleith Road.

Prosecutors were unable to provide any evidence to substantiate the claims.

Sheriff Allan said he found the case “sad” and “distressful” because it had pitted family members “against each other”.