THE former SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh has hired one of Scotland’s top QCs to defend her against a claim of professional misconduct in her previous career.
Dorothy Bain is acting in a tribunal related to the defunct law firm Hamilton Burns, in which Ms Ahmed-Sheikh was a solicitor and partner before entering politics.
Ms Bain led the prosecution of serial killer Peter Tobin in 2007, and was principal advocate depute, the top prosecutorial role in Scotland, from 2009 to 2011.
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A source close to Ms Ahmed-Sheikh said Ms Bain’s involvement showed the former MP’s determination to clear her name, and admitted the QC was “not cheap”.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh lost her Ochil & South Perthshire seat last year and now works with Alex Salmond on his Kremlin TV show.
The Law Society of Scotland launched an investigation last May into the administration of a trust fund set up Hamilton Burns.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh's former partner in the firm, Niall Mickel, was also investigated.
After considering a complaint against the pair, the Law Society of Scotland ruled there was sufficient merit to refer it to the Scottish Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
In the most serious cases, the tribunal has the the power to strike off lawyers.
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Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, 47, and Mr Mickel, 49, set up Hamilton Burns WS as a partnership in 2001 and it became a limited company in 2014.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh left the day-to-day running of the firm after being elected in May 2015, but retained a minority equity stake.
The company went into administration last year owing £600,000, including £210,000 in tax.
At a procedural hearing in Edinburgh on Monday, Ms Bain said she became involved in January, when proceedings in the case were served.
She said she had consulted her client in January, March and April and instructed several areas of enquiry by Ms Ahmed-Sheikh’s solicitor, however he had yet to obtain all the relevant material from the Law Society and the administrators of Hamilton Burns.
William Macreath, for Mr Mickel, said his client had examined six boxes of accounting files at the administrators only last week, and it would be very time-consuming to track how money went between the general client account and the Mickel Trust account.
Mr Mickel was present for the hearing, however Ms Ahmed-Sheikh was not.
The tribunal agreed to reconvene for a further procedural hearing on August 17.
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A source close to Ms Ahmed-Sheikh called the case a “stitch-up” and said she felt there was no case to answer and the Law Society’s own conduct deserved deeper scrutiny.
Ms Ahmed-Sheikh also felt publicity about the case a few weeks before the general election was partly to blame for her losing her seat to the Tories.
The source said: “It’s indicative of the way that she’s going to contest this case that she’s got a QC, a very respected QC. She’s one of the top - not cheap.
“She’s been a solicitor for [almost] 25 years, she doesn’t want to stop being a solicitor.
“Basically, she sees this as a huge slur on her reputation. She’s absolutely certain it partly contributed to her losing the election.”
The source said Ms Ahmed-Sheikh was frustrated with her old firm’s long administration and wanted to get on with her life, adding: “It’s basically done her head in.”
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