A LEGAL activist evicted from his home claims that his fight for justice is being hindered by an Airdrie solicitors' office who are withholding papers crucial to his case and won't release them to him.
Disabled David Emslie claims his legal papers were transferred to Fagan Solicitors, Stirling
Street, Airdrie who were sent the papers after previous solicitors, McConville O'Neill
in Glasgow declared themselves bankrupt in April of this year. The 63-year-old's has been
battling Grampian Housing Association for years over increases in rent. The battle began
when he realised that he was being overcharged rent by Grampian Housing Association for
his home at Nigg Kirk Road, the rent was supposed to be fixed for three years but depite
this the housing association implemented annual rises.
Mr Emslie, who was a tenant for
25 years, challenged the rise and fought through the courts, in 2005 after a five-year
court battle he was awarded £17,000.
He claims that the area he lived in was rife with drug dealing and anti-social behaviour and there were 27 attempts made on his life. He distributed leaflets in the local area alleging corruption with the Grampian police force. After installing cameras and video recording equipment to record incidents to use as evidence, he claims police refused to do anything to apprehend the suspects. He made complaints to the police against Superintendent John Duncan, who he claims was given the complaint to investigate himself, and against the procurator fiscal who he claims didn't even bother to process the complaints. Mr Emslie said: "The Procurator Fiscal refused to prosecute many criminals caught on my CCTV system threatening to kill me and breaking into my home, when I requested the CCTV Tapes back they refused to give me them, I pursued this and evenetually got my tapes back but they had wiped many of them, so the evidence was gone."
The Aberdeen man who now finds himself homeless, said: "They've persecuted me for being a whistle blower, they police wouldn't protect me and the housing won't rehome me unless I get rid of my dog, which I refuse to do. The legal profession seems to be against me as well as they are making anything I try to do very difficult."
Grampian Housing Association raised an eviction order against David Emslie in 2007 citing anti-social behaviour and rent arrears, he disputes both claiming he has no criminal record and the arrears were due to illegal rent rises. The solicitor representing him then pulled out of the case. Mr Emslie took ill leaving him unable to attend court to defend the case himself. The eviction order was heard by the court in his absence and passed. While he was out buying groceries the housing association repossessed the flat, he said: "When they evicted me they broke in and raided my flat and smashed up my stuff and threw it into a skip, my neighbour told me.
"They then arrested me, held me for four days and charged me with possession of a firearm.
"When the charge went to court it was thrown out as they had no productions, no evidence and no witnesses."
Mr Emslie doesn't understand why the Airdrie solicitors won't release his paperwork and believes that it is part of the legal establishments attempts to silence them for taking them on, he said: "These papers are papers I gave to the solicitor as evidence to support my case and now they won't return them, the Airdrie solicitors told me they can't assist me in fighting my case so I want them back so that I can find someone who will fight it or I'll fight it myself.
"It's like taking your car to a garage and they move it to another garage and refuse to give it back.
"I've went to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and they have told me that they can investigate and that could take two or three years and at the end of that they still can't force the company to give me them back, they can only advise the company to give me them. So it could be a complete waste of time.
"The Law Society has to investigate solicitors first before the police can get involved."
David took his case to Donald Dewar and more recently to First Minister Alex Salmond who he also claims refused to help him.
When the Advertiser contacted Stephen Fagan at the Airdrie solicitors office he told us he was in the process of returning the documents, he said: "I've just returned from holiday and I'm in the process of going through David Emslie's papers just now. Any papers that he handed in to the solicitors can be handed back but any case notes and the like won't be."
Was written for Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser but they pulled the story
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