A FINANCIAL consultant who sent a threatening letter to his former
solicitor warning him that he was putting his wife and children's future
happiness and security at risk, has been branded a legal nuisance.
After Mr Alexander Plunkett raised 12 separate legal actions over a
#2000 legal bill, the Lord Advocate yesterday took the rare legal step
of having him declared a vexatious litigant.
Following the order by three Court of Session judges yesterday, Mr
Plunkett, 34, cannot raise fresh legal proceedings of any kind without
the permission of a Supreme Court judge.
Speaking from his home in Philip Avenue, Newton Stewart, Wigtonshire,
last night, Mr Plunkett told The Herald he would contest the court
order, if at all possible.
He said he had tried to lodge answers at the Court of Session in
response to the petition by the Lord Advocate, which was served on him a
month ago, but had been told that he would have to pay a fee of #77.
''I would welcome the chance to get into court. I have been trying to
do that for several years. But I am unemployed and cannot afford #77,''
said Mr Plunkett, who is a single parent with an 11-year-old daughter.
''Am I to be denied justice for the lack of #77?''
He described the whole affair against him as a ''cover-up'' by the
legal profession in an attempt ''to protect its own''.
Lord Ross, Lord Justice Clerk, who heard the Lord Advocate's petition
yesterday, along with Lords Murray and Cullen, was told that, in 1987,
Mr Plunkett asked solicitor Alfred Perring to arrange the sale of his
house, The Falcons, Gullane, East Lothian, and the purchase of his
present home in Newton Stewart.
Mr Perring deducted the fee of #2000 for the conveyancing work,
outlays, and VAT, in accordance with accepted legal practice.
Mr Plunkett objected and made what the Lord Advocate described as
false allegations against Mr Perring to the Law Society, the Lay
Observer, Customs and Excise, and the police. None of them found any
substance in the allegations.
An allegation of criminal behaviour was passed on to the procurator
fiscal in Edinburgh and he decided that there was no evidence to back up
the claim.
Despite this, Mr Plunkett raised 12 separate court actions against Mr
Perring in Stranraer and Edinburgh Sheriff Courts.
In his petition to the Court of Session, the Lord Advocate referred to
a threatening letter written by Mr Plunkett to his former solicitor,
which began: ''Dear Fred, here's the deal.''
The letter urged Mr Perring to pay the disputed #2000 in return for Mr
Plunkett withdrawing complaints to the Law Society and Solicitors
Discipline Tribunal and not raising an action at Edinburgh Sheriff
Court.
The letter ended: ''Think hard about this offer as the matter is on
the verge of turning into a tragedy beyond a scale you can imagine.
''You are putting your wife and children's future happiness and
security at risk. You are walking a very thin line and if I feel you do
anything to threaten my daughter's security, this line may snap and no
lawyer in Scotland will be there to save you.''
According to the Lord Advocate, Mr Plunkett had also failed to pay any
of the expenses awarded against him in the unsuccessful actions he has
brought against Mr Perring.
Lord Ross said that, having considered the petition, the court was
prepared to grant an order declaring Mr Plunkett a vexatious litigant.
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