A prominent Scots lawyer has been suspended as a sheriff in the ongoing fall-out from the collapse of a £400m hedge fund.
Peter Watson was debenched on February 16 after it emerged his former firm had been sued by the liquidators of Heather Capital, an investment empire run by Glasgow-born tycoon Gregory King.
Spain-based Mr King and three others are currently under police investigation for embezzlement.
Mr Watson, a veteran on the Scottish legal circuit, has not been charged with any crime, and has not one of the four named in a police report to the Crown Office on the case.
However, his former company, Levy & McRae, is one of several companies being sued by Heather's liquidator, Ernst & Young, in a civil case following the fund's 2010 collapse.
And the 61-year-old was also briefly a director of a company called Mathon Ltd that was a key part of the Heather empire.
Mr Watson welcomed the suspension until such time as litigation ends, having initially offered to de-roster himself.
He said: "While civil litigation is ongoing it is not appropriate to sit as a sheriff.
"I look forward to the litigation being concluded and that matter being reviewed.
He stressed that his involvement with Mathon was as a non-executive director and he had no hands-on role in the business.
The lawyer is understood to have been brought on to the board to help advise on an attempt to float the company, which was aborted.
He added: "I have never been asked about any impropriety in my role as a non-executive director.
"I was only a non-executive director for eight months, during which time the audited accounts showed that the company was in good financial health."
The Judicial Office has confirmed Mr Watson's suspension. In a statement, the body said: "On Friday February, 13, the Judicial Office was made aware of the existence of a summons containing certain allegations against a number of individuals including part-time sheriff Peter Watson.
"The Lord President's Private Office immediately contacted Mr Watson and he offered not to sit as a part-time sheriff on a voluntary basis, pending the outcome of those proceedings.
"Mr Watson e-mailed a copy of the summons to the Lord President's Private Office on Saturday 14 February. On Monday 16 February the Lord President considered the matter. Having been shown the summons, the Lord President concluded that in the circumstances a voluntary de-rostering was not appropriate and that suspension was necessary in order to maintain public confidence in the judiciary.
"Mr Watson was therefore duly suspended from office on Monday 16 February 2015."
Levy & McRae act as media law advisors to The Herald, Sunday Herald and The Evening Times. Mr Watson, whose clients include former Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini, left Levy & McRae last year.
He has now set up his own firm, called PBW Law, which he says he wants to be the "Harley Street of legal advice".
The firm is understood to be defending the action but has made no comment.
A much bigger Scottish law firm, Burness Paull, is also being sued by the liquidator for Heather Capital, Ernst & Young. Burness Paull has failed to respond to calls on the matter.
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