A LAWYER jailed for trying to rape a fellow solicitor was last night
looking forward to practising again after escaping being struck off.
Angus Diggle, a 38-year-old Scot who now lives in Bolton, Greater
Manchester, was suspended for one year by the solicitors' disciplinary
tribunal in London.
Its chairman, Mr Barrie Marsh, said that although the matter was very
serious, Diggle had been punished for the criminal offence and had
served his debt to society.
Diggle was convicted at the Old Bailey in August 1993 of trying to
rape the 25-year-old Glasgow woman. She worked as a lawyer in Edinburgh.
They danced together and drank champagne, whisky, and wine at a St
Andrew's Day ball at a hotel in Park Lane, central London.
They returned to a friend's flat in Earl's Court, where Diggle agreed
to sleep on the floor but made advances to the woman.
He was wearing only his spectacles, the frilly cuffs of his full
Highland dress, and a green condom.
He was later alleged to have told police: ''I have spent #200 on her.
Why can't I do what I did to her?''
He was sentenced to three years in jail, reduced on appeal to two
years, and was released from Leyhill open prison in Gloucestershire at
the end of September after serving a year.
Mr Marsh said Diggle had effectively not practised law for about two
years, so a one-year ban was the fair and right way to deal with the
situation.
''We feel that, in this particular case, a suspension is the
appropriate order,'' he said.
After the hearing, Diggle refused to speak but his counsel, Mr Michael
Borrelli, said: ''Mr Diggle hopes to have the opportunity from everybody
to put this matter behind him.
''He would also like to thank members of the press and a great many
members of the public who have offered him support.''
Afterwards, a family law practitioner, Mr Martin Mears, said: ''I am
surprised at this result because I would have thought either he would
have been struck off or not brought before the tribunal at all.
''The question is whether he was an intended rapist or not. If he was,
then he should be struck off. If he was not, then he shouldn't have been
sentenced in the first place and should never have appeared before a
tribunal.
''This suspension doesn't make sense. He is in a half-way house.''
Mr Richard Ferguson QC, who represented Diggle in the Court of Appeal
last year, said his former client had been punished enough.
''Punishment must be appropriate and not vindictive. If the Law
Society think it appropriate to give him this chance, then that is a
matter for them.
''He has served his debt to society,'' he said.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article