Media ban as aristocrat murder bid case begins at Stirling

The 82-year-old woman is charged with attacking Sir Peter Craft Hutchison, 83, the hereditary 2nd Baronet Hutchison of Rossie. But the media were banned from revealing her name when she appeared on petition at Stirling Sheriff Court. The hearing was held in private, as is always the case in Scotland when people accused of serious crimes make their initial appearances in court.

It has led to criticisms over secrecy and usually means only an accused’s name, age, general address and a brief outline of the allegations are made public at this stage.

But, in the case of the female aristocrat, Sheriff Simon Collins took the additional step of preventing the media from naming her.

The behind-closed-doors hearing took over an hour – petition hearings are usually purely procedural and take minutes – with the accused represented by one of Scotland’s highest-paid QCs, Bert Kerrigan.

She did not make any plea and was committed for further examination and granted bail.

 Crown motion for her to be compelled to take part in an identification parade was refused.

A senior criminal lawyer, who asked not to be named, last night said the use of a Section 4 Order at petition proceedings was “unusual, to say the least”.

He said: “Section 4 orders are usually used to place an embargo on the reporting of a trial, where another accused is due to face trial later on charges arising out of the same circumstances, which could therefore be prejudiced.”

Sir Peter inherited his title on the 1979 death of his father, Sir James Riley Holt Hutchison, who was nicknamed ‘the Pimpernel of the Maquis’ for his work with the French Resistance during the Second World War.

The military hero was later elected as Tory MP for Glasgow Central, and it was for him that the baronetcy was created in 1956.

Sir Peter, a celebrated botanist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and a former chairman of the trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, used to open his garden at his country seat, Broich in Kippen, Stirlingshire, to the public every year under the Scotland’s Gardens Scheme.

The large woodland garden is said to contain many important rhododendrons and special trees, including a famous yew, a Victorian walk through the woodland along a burn that features a waterfall and attractive bridges, leading to a walled garden.

Twenty years ago he hit the headlines after putting up a sign protesting against a housing development being built near his estate.

Erected in a field facing the development, the 4ft x 3ft sign read “disgraceful”.

Sir Peter is also a past chairman of the Forestry Commission Scotland and was formerly chairman of insurance brokers Hutchison & Craft of Glasgow.