ACCUSED.SCOT
Articles
Source-led analysis of Scottish criminal justice procedure, FOI findings, and evidential rules.
What Scotland’s Sexual Offence Statistics Do Not Show
Scotland publishes detailed statistics on sexual offences each year. But one outcome remains largely invisible in that data: cases where allegations are later found to have no foundation…
Who gets the transcript?
Update – April 2026 Following publication of this article, a Freedom of Information response from the Scottish Government has clarified the position. The response confirms that: No formal…
What Are Scottish Juries Actually Told About “Rape Myths”?
Our earlier article, Built Into the Directions, looked at where these directions come from, the authority claimed for them, and the fairness issues that follow. This piece answers…
We Asked How Often Moorov Is Used. The System Cannot Answer.
Scotland's courts have no way to identify how often juries are directed on the Moorov doctrine. That finding was set out here. The obvious follow-on question was whether…
Still Blind. Still Silent.
A follow-up Freedom of Information request confirms what the first set of responses implied. Scotland's courts have not discussed fixing the recording gap in ten years. And they…
After Sharples: What Safeguards Exist When the System Gets It Wrong?
Scotland has expanded protections for complainers. The question now is what safeguards exist when the system fails. On 11 March 2026, Stacey Sharples was jailed after pleading guilty…
Built Into the Directions
Scotland's Jury Manual tells judges that research 'convincingly demonstrates' rape myths shape verdicts. After Daly & Keir forced a rewrite of the Bench Book, it is worth asking…
The Book That Told You This Would Happen
A 2018 handbook claimed to describe a sequence by which a man's reputation could be destroyed through allegation alone. The author presented it as a structured analysis of…
Blind Spots In The System
Freedom of Information requests reveal that Scotland's courts cannot measure their own most consequential trial procedures. Nobody appears to be asking why. Scotland's criminal case management system logs…
The Story Scottish Media Will Not Tell
If you are a man in Scotland, or you have a son, a brother, a father or a friend who is, this concerns you directly. Every year thousands…
The Book Readers Asked About, And Why Its Argument Now Feels Familiar
A controversial 2018 self-published book prompted an unexpected response from readers after last week’s column on anonymity before conviction. The text itself is polemical and widely disputed, but…
When a Book Disappears: What Prison Property Reveals About Accountability
The character of a justice system is rarely revealed in a courtroom or a ministerial press conference.More often, it appears in something smaller: a parcel, a paperback book,…