FORMER Rangers vice-chairman Donald Findlay QC, said last night the embarrassing controversy that erupted after he was caught on film singing sectarian songs had led him to consider suicide.

Mr Findlay, 48, widely recognised as Scotland's leading criminal defence counsel, said the affair had taken a ''tremendous toll''. He suggested he would never be free from the fallout from the episode, which he regretted because of the deep offence it caused.

An announcement last week by St Andrews University not to award him an honorory doctorate following his second three-year term as rector, was ''nearly one kick too many'', he said.

He resigned from his position with Rangers in May after a video of him singing The Sash - a song seen in Glasgow as sectarian and anti-Catholic - was made public.

The Faculty of Advocates is still considering whether to take action against the QC following the controversy which surfaced following a private party to celebrate Rangers' Scottish Cup final victory over Celtic earlier this year.

His admission that he considered taking his own life, made last night in an interview on the Kirsty Wark Show, broadcast on BBC1 Scotland, came in response to a question on how the affair had affected him mentally.

Mr Findlay said he was probably a depressive by nature and went on: ''I worry about the job, the people I represent, and I'm aware of slipping into a depression, of having less and less interest in life, in pleasurable things.

''I really don't care any more about doing for myself and to find yourself seriously contemplating ending your life - is a remarkable experience to go through.''

His thoughts of ending his life occurred not long after the whole affair erupted.

''I suppose when it was at its height . . . I sat for a very long time but what that would have done to the people that I cared about and who cared about me was a price I was not prepared to pay just to get away from the pain.''

Mr Findlay had talked about his mental state to no-one ''other than a few people'' very close to him.

He said he would never feel free of the fallout from the episode because when people came to write his obituary ''. . . it will be there somewhere, large or small, and that is an appalling thought.''

The QC, who admitted to being a ''bluenose'' (Rangers fan) insisted he got caught up in ''the exuberance of the occasion'' at the private party in May after Rangers secured the treble.

''There was just a tremendous sense of euphoria and the crowd are going and songs are sung and you join in . . . because you want people to know that, as the vice-chairman of Rangers, you're not a suit,'' he said.

Mr Findlay said songs such as he sung that night were ''very different'' to the uglier side of sectarianism - which he likened to an attack on another person because of the colour of a football scarf, or a racist attack.

Nevertheless, he accepted there were ''aspects of the songs'' which were ''clearly hostile'', were not acceptable, and should not be sung in public.

He said he would not sing them in public or in private because of lessons he had learned and advised others not to sing them.

However, he went on to tell Ms Wark: ''If you take the proper words, for example, of The Sash, it's not hostile, it's pro a cause, whatever view you take of that cause. When you put hostile words in is when it becomes unacceptable.''

Mr Findlay said few Rangers fans would put their hands on their hearts to say they had never sung The Sash. He did not know many people at Rangers-Celtic games who left the match because they disapproved of the songs being sung.

He could not imagine an Old Firm match where Celtic supporters would not sing The Soldier's Song and Rangers fans did not sing The Sash or equivalent songs and suggested that stopping an Old Firm match for that reason would probably cause a riot.

He regretted his actions because they caused offence and reflected badly on Rangers, whom he loved and still loves.

He said he felt his six years as rector of St Andrews University were ''tainted'' because of its decision to withdraw the honorary degree: ''You think when people keep kicking at you, you get used to it, it won't matter any more.

''It does. I hate to give them the satisfaction of knowing that it still hurts but, yes it does, and that was nearly one too many.''

Eminent solicitor Joe Beltrami, who has known Mr Findlay for almost 25 years, said he had paid a ''tremendous penalty'' for his indiscretion and added: ''He has suffered immeasurably since this stupid action. He made a mistake but has learned from it over the past few months. This whole matter must now be brought to an end in the interests of fairness.''

Mr Beltrami's views were supported by Mr John McMillan, secretary of Rangers' Supporters Association, who said: ''He has admitted making a serious error of judgment but has paid a high price since then. He must now be allowed to get on with his life.''