Last week I took a little trip up to Stonehaven, a small fishing town on the east coast of Aberdeenshire, in support of Robert Green who after a 20-month delay since his original arrest was facing trial at last at the local Sheriff court.

Arriving in Stonehaven by train late on a wet Sunday evening in November is not to be recommended. If you’re already feeling fragile after 7 hours in a hot, packed train with people having to sit on bags in the aisles and a dearth of sandwiches, don’t expect joy at journey’s end either. The brightly-lit station will be totally devoid of life, not a taxi or bus in sight and there is over a mile to walk to the town centre. You could be clutching a bin-bag full of placards as well as your luggage and of course it will be raining. Your wheelie-bag will make a thunderous noise on the rough pavement as you trundle it through the deserted streets past mostly darkened houses, causing the odd  curtain to twitch, or did you imagine that? At any moment a front door will open and you’ll be informed in tart tones you are causing a “breach of the peace” to be proceeding down Scottish streets in a noisy manner so late in the evening. Where are any friendly corner-shops to check you are actually going in the right direction? Please, I begged who ever is up there, send me at least a friendly dog-walker to reassure me I’m on course for the town centre and my hotel!

Well of course they had planned it to be like this when they decided to stage these potentially world-changing, system-busting proceedings in such a remote place as Stonehaven. Couldn’t have Hollie’s army hitting central Aberdeen, could we?

By the end of my 48 hours’ sojourn in outwardly sleepy, inaccessible Stonehaven, however, I’d rather taken to the place.  A well-run hotel and perfectly-cooked full Scottish breakfast (although I passed on the haggis and sausages) soon erased the struggles of the previous evening and it is always nice to be near the sea. But what constituted serendipity for me was all the little conversations I had with the townsfolk going to and from the courthouse or standing in the main square. After London where it’s impossible to walk along the pavement in a straight line, let alone get anyone’s eye or ear as to the urgent situation you wish to communicate with them, Stonehaven felt spacey and relaxed and was a leafleteer’s paradise.

People actually stopped and peered at the placards, they wanted to know who is Hollie Greig? What’s going on at the courthouse? (they’d all spotted our demo) and when I told them the story there were cries of “och the poor wee lassie! I’d string them all up, I would” and “he’s a very brave man”, as any normal folk would react to such information.  I saw one lady showing the leaflet she’d just received to another friend or neighbour and an animated discussion then ensuing.

Outside the courthouse where a dozen of us supporters lined up on the first morning to greet the Sheriff and Procurator Fiscal it was the same story. Curious motorists slowed their engines and opened car windows to read the placards which read “Drop the Charges,” “Who’s Peace has been Breached?” and of course the usual “Scotland’s Shame Google Hollie Greig.”

They hadn’t a clue at that stage what it was all about but for sure some unfortunate individual was about to be stitched up inside the building and they gave us the odd hoot or thumbs-up sign.

Whatever nasty things go on in the higher echelons of Scottish society, most of the 5-6 million Scots are real people who execrate cruelty and corruption as much as do people anywhere, although they don’t know what can be done about it. Well, at least in Stonehaven everybody now knows of the existence of a monumentally brave individual called Robert Green who is prepared to take on the whole Scottish establishment and all they need to do is support him!

Inside the courtroom we were kept under strict regulation by the court officer who had been instructed by the Sheriff to place us as far back as possible, with the result that for anyone on the deaf side it was very hard to hear what was being said at the front of the chamber. We were not allowed to take notes either. I was about to get out my notebook when I was told sharply to “put that pen away.”

As has been clear from the start of this saga of the hounding of Robert Green, the authorities are determined to lock him up and throw away the key, by however many breaches of the due protocols, processes and procedures of the law and of law-enforcement that can be achieved. So it was par for the course when on Day 1 of the trial Sheriff Bowen tried to brush aside a glaring risk of abuse of process, in that the Procurator Fiscal for Edinburgh, Stephen McGowan QC was at once prosecutor in the case and also down to give witness evidence.

Never in his 45 years had he met such a situation, but hey ho, it was unlikely the PF would need to be called to the stand, his involvement with the defendant amounting to no more than one letter sent to him in response to an FOI (Freedom Of Information) request back in January 2010. The Sheriff therefore  was disposed to ignore the bothersome little anomaly.

Counsel for the Defence, however, Frances McMenamin did not intend to let him off the hook and continued to harry him in an ever-louder voice on this and related points of law, but the Sheriff had his eye on the clock – the whole of the first morning was being frittered away and he was impatient to call the witnesses and get on with the trial. So no, he was not going to remove the Procurator Fiscal and he wanted everyone back in court at 2 pm. Did Counsel for the Defence have anything further to say? No your Lordship, she replied sweetly, knowing she held the ace up her sleeve.

Lunch over, by 2 pm the trump card had duly been played. A somewhat flushed and flustered-looking McGowan, mumbling his words, informed the Sheriff he had been issued with a citation requiring him to take the stand, therefore he must ask for an adjournment while he considered his position.

Sheriff Bowen was none too pleased but had no option but grant the adjournment and dispatch the witnesses who had been waiting in the wings all morning.

Robert and his legal team then went into consultation for the rest of the afternoon while we supporters repaired to the Royal Hotel on the main square which has a nice roomy bar. Suddenly who should turn up but the little school of witnesses, obviously with the same idea. Seeing us already comfortably ensconced in the window area their ringleader said loudly “We don’t want to sit there, that’s where all the nasty people are!”  At this, Neil sprung from his seat and confronted the lady. “Excuse me, I am not a nasty person!” “Oh yes you are a nasty person!” “Oh no I’m not, and I am going to report you for a Breach of the Peace!”.

After this unedifying exchange the witnesses flounced off to another area of the bar – the social facilities at the Royal Hotel had clearly been designed to accommodate sparring parties from the nearby courthouse. I peered curiously at the group down at the other end of the long room and was struck by the fact they were all slightly stout, middle-aged women of the ‘Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells’ variety, there was not a man amongst them.  So these then are the people whose peace Robert has breached, whom Sheriff Bowen couldn’t wait to pull into his courtroom to help demolish him?

Later on the phone to Anne, I described the scene with the witnesses and immediately she said those were the Witches! The Witches of Eastwick she calls them, Hollie’s erstwhile tormentors. Head of the coven is Sylvia Major, wife of deceased Terry Major, erstwhile senior Forensics Officer of Grampian Police who when Hollie, in 2000 began reporting the abuse she had suffered, had blocked any proper forensic investigation.

Eventually Robert joined us. It was by now 5 pm and the Witches had long since left. Although outwardly still his usual cheery self, I know him well enough by now to sense that something had happened and asked him how he was feeling at the end of Day 1? He admitted to being “a bit down.”

It transpired that his legal team had been trying to persuade him to change his plea to ‘guilty.’ There were now 61 witnesses lined up ready to tell the court that Robert had caused them ‘alarm and distress’ through what he was putting out in public places. Moreover, the underlying case was fundamentally weak, as only Hollie is testifying to the abuse and under Scottish law at least 2 witnesses or victims are needed to bring a prosecution. “Yes, but the other key witness in the case, Roy Greig who saw Hollie being raped was murdered, of which there is clear proof!” But then came the bombshell, in that the police were now saying they had interviewed all of the alleged abusers and victims on 11th February 2010, the day before Robert’s arrest!

Woah! Let’s slow down here, says Anne.

The police had interviewed all of the alleged abusers and victims on 11th February 2010, the day before Robert’s arrest, in one day?!  It had taken Grampian Police eleven years to get round to interviewing them and they did the job all in one day? The alleged abusers and victims claimed they are suffering from anxiety due to the written word (based on fact) of Robert Green. Suddenly, Grampian Police considered their claim serious enough to interview all of them in one day! This was to protect their rights and bring a case against Robert, and that this had not been disclosed seven days before the hearing is against the law. Who gained?

However, in 2000, a vulnerable Down’s Syndrome girl was not afforded the same consideration for reporting a serious crime of RAPE, resulting in post traumatic stress and night terrors due to years of abuse, with physical scarring. Instead, Grampian Police issued a warrant for the sectioning of her mother, Anne Greig. WHY and who gained? The evidence in 2000 was allowed to be corrupted by Grampian Police; the mattresses in Anne’s home were disposed of by Denis Mackie, vital DNA was lost due to the fact that Terry Major (one of Hollie’s alleged abusers), Head of Forensics at Grampian Police had primed Denis Mackie. Who gained?

Who was it that ordered the arrest of Robert Green for walking down a street in Aberdeen to meet people to distribute leaflets for his election campaign? Answer: Elish Angiolini, previous Lord Advocate.

Why would the Lord Advocate want to arrest a man for running an election campaign highlighting the injustice of the Hollie Greig story? Who gained?

Why did Sheriff Buchanan claim to have paid thousands of pounds to  have Robert put under surveillance for a period of time, without his knowledge, which amounts to stalking.* (see pdf document). This happened before he was arrested for “breach of the peace.”   premeditated? A set-up? Collusion? Why, who gained?

If the alleged abusers /victims felt Robert’s spoken and written words were slanderous or libellous, why have they not, individually or collectively, taken out a private prosecution? Instead, they have chosen to hide behind the Scottish Crown, using the public purse. Why, who gains?

The same way the former Lord Advocate, Elish Angiolini used public money to try to and silence The Drum magazine and the UK Column for printing Hollie’s story. Why, who gains?

How many police were employed to interview the 61 alleged witnesses? How did the  police gain the knowledge that there were 61 witnesses? How were they contacted?How long did each interview take? What exactly were they a witness to?

Were the alleged victims medically examined by Grampian Police? Were their medical records requested by Grampian Police? Were their homes searched? How did the police determine they were valid witnesses? Where did the interviews take place?
Who countersigned all their statements?  Were their computers checked? If not why not and who gained?

These are the questions that Robert’s legal team should have been asking. Instead Frances McMenamin had tried to reason with Robert that he stood no chance by pleading not guilty. WHY?  It should be noted that it was is his legal team that failed to push for a trial by jury, instead  they accepted a trial by a Sheriff. Why, who gains?

Finally McMenamin had asked Robert straight, just how far he was prepared to go for Hollie? Robert gave her an equally straight answer.

By Tuesday, the following morning, Anne Currie QC, Procurator Fiscal for Aberdeen had replaced the hapless McGowan, but matters had already taken their inevitable course.  Robert’s solicitor Gerry Sweeney, informed him that his Counsel were withdrawing from the case being unable to defend him on a plea of not guilty. He, Sweeney would inform the court of this turn of events, then he too chose to withdraw.

Despite having had a sleepless night, Robert was by now back to his usual buoyant self and took the news on the cuff, knowing he had made the only choice with which he would be able to live. Once we supporters had got over our own shock, we unanimously endorsed his decision and respected his injunction, not to be rude to his departing counsel as they exited the court. He thought they remained privately supportive of him but accepted they had careers to maintain. We needed to save all our fire-power for the real villains.

So the “women” and their hounds will have to wait a bit longer for Robert’s blood, as will Sheriff Buchanan, top of Hollie’s list of abusers. Sheriff Buchanan was spotted entering the courthouse soon after the defence team had left, later reportedly seen  conferring with Sheriff Bowen. What!  Surely this is a conflict  of interest?!  At the sight of Sheriff Buchanan, one of the supporters got extremely upset due to his own previous experience with the man.

Robert now has to find a new solicitor/counsel or be a litigant in person against the Crown, an unthinkable situation for the other side. Adjourning the proceedings the Sheriff summoned the court to reconvene on Monday 21st November for a one-day consultation on the legal issues that had arisen the previous week and to set a date for the reopening of the trial.

Now he is on his own, Robert is going to be “much more aggressive,” he says “They’ve shown what they want and I’m not going to pander to them any longer. I’m really going for it now.”

Watch this space.

Report written by Belinda McKenzie.

*The complex account (not an invoice), itemises costs supposedly incurred and compiled by Sheriff Buchanan for surveillance of Robert.