David Colville Anderson
Encyclopedia
David Colville Anderson, VRD
, QC
(8 September 1916 – 31 December 1995) was a Scottish
law
lecturer, advocate
, Unionist MP, Solicitor General for Scotland
, and judge
, whose career ended in scandal.
At the end of World War II
he was honoured by the Norwegian
king for preventing a rumoured Soviet
invasion. He claimed that he had been framed by the KGB
out for revenge, and several high-profile, unsuccessful attempts were made to clear Anderson's name, including debates in the Lords and Commons and an investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
. However, in her 2010 autobiography Lady Judy Steel claimed that Anderson had made an almost identical indecent proposal to her when she was a teenage student at Edinburgh University.
farming family and the son of a solicitor, Anderson was educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond
and Pembroke College
, Oxford
. He graduated from Oxford in 1938 and then went to Edinburgh University on a Thow Scholarship, where he read for a Bachelor of Laws
degree.
as a hobby (winning the Ashburton Shield at Bisley
for his school in 1933) and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1935. He was a member of the Inter-Services shooting team at Bisley from 1936 to 1938. During the Second World War
Anderson served on Royal Navy
destroyer
s, being mentioned in despatches in 1940, and winning the Egerton Prize for Naval Gunnery in 1943.
troops being held as prisoners of war
by the German
Army in North Norway
in 1945. British intelligence
agencies suspected that Stalin
intended to use the revolt as a pretext to launch an invasion of Norway, and Anderson was awarded the King Haakon VII Liberty Medal for the successful operation in 1946. After demobilisation he remained in the RNVR, won the Volunteer Reserve Decoration in 1947, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in 1948.
in 1955. He gave this work up on being appointed a Queen's Counsel
in 1957.
seat of Coatbridge and Airdrie
in the 1955 general election
and in the more marginal seat of East Dunbartonshire
in 1959
. He continued trying to find Unionist nominations in winnable seats.
, Anderson was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland
on 11 May 1960. This was a junior ministerial within the government (advising the Scottish Office
on legal matters) which it was considered acceptable for an appointment from outside Parliament. He was also an ex-officio Commissioner for Northern Lighthouses
, becoming Vice-Chairman in 1963.
(Member of Parliament
for Dumfriesshire
) was given a Peerage
at the end of 1963, Anderson was put forward to fight the seat in the ensuing by-election. It was speculated that the government's difficulty in guiding the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill through its Standing Committee stage in Parliament led to a decision that the Solicitor-General would be useful to have as a Member of Parliament. He kept the seat with a much-reduced majority of 971 after a low-key campaign.
on 17 March. Initially intending to carry on as MP, a month later he gave up the candidacy and therefore left Parliament at the dissolution in September. When he recovered from illness, Anderson resumed his legal career and in 1965 was appointed Honorary Sheriff-Substitute
for Lothians and Peebles. He was a Chairman of Scottish Industrial Tribunals from 1971 to 1972 and was Chief Reporter for Public Inquiries and Under-Secretary for the Scottish Office from 1972.
50 for accosting two 14-year-old girls, and asking them to walk on him and beat him up. Anderson had been in Troon
on 18 December 1972, presiding over the first major public inquiry of his new post. The prosecution claimed that Anderson, finding himself out of his home town, had approached the girls and asked them to go to a quiet place with him.
The case had been controversial as the girls failed to identify Anderson and he was given an alibi
by one of the staff members of the hotel where he was staying. Anderson's wife also gave evidence that the coat he was supposedly wearing on the night was being cleaned at the time. Anderson, who claimed the KGB
had framed him by using a lookalike to impersonate him and get in trouble, appealed the conviction but lost. He was dismissed from his posts in 1974.
, Edinburgh and at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith
. Anderson had not succeeded in clearing his name by the time of his death. In September 2002 it was announced that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
was looking into the case, but it concluded in February 2005 that the conviction should stand.
Volunteer Reserve Decoration
The Volunteer Reserve Decoration was awarded to commissioned officers in the United Kingdom's Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for long service and good conduct.The VRD was established in 1908...
, QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
(8 September 1916 – 31 December 1995) was a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
law
Scots law
Scots law is the legal system of Scotland. It is considered a hybrid or mixed legal system as it traces its roots to a number of different historical sources. With English law and Northern Irish law it forms the legal system of the United Kingdom; it shares with the two other systems some...
lecturer, advocate
Advocate
An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...
, Unionist MP, Solicitor General for Scotland
Solicitor General for Scotland
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...
, and judge
Courts of Scotland
The civil, criminal and heraldic Courts of Scotland are responsible for the administration of justice. They are constituted and governed by Scots law....
, whose career ended in scandal.
At the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was honoured by the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
king for preventing a rumoured Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invasion. He claimed that he had been framed by the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
out for revenge, and several high-profile, unsuccessful attempts were made to clear Anderson's name, including debates in the Lords and Commons and an investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is a non-departmental public body in Scotland, established by the Criminal Procedure Act 1995 ....
. However, in her 2010 autobiography Lady Judy Steel claimed that Anderson had made an almost identical indecent proposal to her when she was a teenage student at Edinburgh University.
Early life
From a FifeFife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
farming family and the son of a solicitor, Anderson was educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond
Glenalmond College
Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. The school's motto is Floreat Glenalmond...
and Pembroke College
Pembroke College, Oxford
Pembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:...
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He graduated from Oxford in 1938 and then went to Edinburgh University on a Thow Scholarship, where he read for a Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
degree.
Shooting and RNVR service
His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of war. Anderson was well prepared, because he had enjoyed pistol shootingShooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
as a hobby (winning the Ashburton Shield at Bisley
Bisley, Surrey
Bisley is a large village in Surrey, England, which is notable for rifle shooting. Bisley's immediate neighbours are West End, Chobham and Knaphill.- History :...
for his school in 1933) and joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1935. He was a member of the Inter-Services shooting team at Bisley from 1936 to 1938. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Anderson served on Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s, being mentioned in despatches in 1940, and winning the Egerton Prize for Naval Gunnery in 1943.
Wartime
From 1943 to 1945 Anderson was Flotilla Gunnery Officer for the Rosyth Escort Force. He led a special operation to assist in preventing a revolt of Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
troops being held as prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
by the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
Army in North Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in 1945. British intelligence
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agencies suspected that Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
intended to use the revolt as a pretext to launch an invasion of Norway, and Anderson was awarded the King Haakon VII Liberty Medal for the successful operation in 1946. After demobilisation he remained in the RNVR, won the Volunteer Reserve Decoration in 1947, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander in 1948.
Legal career
Resuming his studies at Edinburgh, he obtained a Distinction in his LLB in 1946. He won the Maclagan and Dalgety Prizes at Edinburgh. Qualifying as an Advocate in the same year, he became a Lecturer in Scots Law at Edinburgh from 1947 while also practising. Anderson concentrated on government instructions and became Standing Junior Counsel to the Ministry of Works in 1953, transferring to the War OfficeWar Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
in 1955. He gave this work up on being appointed a Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
in 1957.
Political career
Already interested in politics, Anderson had been the Unionist candidate in the safe LabourLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
seat of Coatbridge and Airdrie
Coatbridge and Airdrie (UK Parliament constituency)
Coatbridge and Airdrie was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament from 1950 until 1983.It was then replaced by the Monklands West constituency.-Boundaries:...
in the 1955 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1955
The 1955 United Kingdom general election was held on 26 May 1955, four years after the previous general election. It resulted in a substantially increased majority of 60 for the Conservative government under new leader and prime minister Sir Anthony Eden against Labour Party, now in their 20th year...
and in the more marginal seat of East Dunbartonshire
East Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
East Dunbartonshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in 1959
United Kingdom general election, 1959
This United Kingdom general election was held on 8 October 1959. It marked a third successive victory for the ruling Conservative Party, led by Harold Macmillan...
. He continued trying to find Unionist nominations in winnable seats.
Government office
Although no longer a Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, Anderson was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland
Solicitor General for Scotland
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Lord Advocate, whose duty is to advise the Crown and the Scottish Government on Scots Law...
on 11 May 1960. This was a junior ministerial within the government (advising the Scottish Office
Scottish Office
The Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...
on legal matters) which it was considered acceptable for an appointment from outside Parliament. He was also an ex-officio Commissioner for Northern Lighthouses
Northern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
, becoming Vice-Chairman in 1963.
Parliament
When Niall MacphersonNiall Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn
Niall Malcolm Stewart Macpherson, 1st Baron Drumalbyn KBE, PC was a Scottish Tory and National Liberal politician.-Background and education:...
(Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Dumfriesshire was a county constituency represented in the of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 2005. It was known as Dumfries from 1950...
) was given a Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
at the end of 1963, Anderson was put forward to fight the seat in the ensuing by-election. It was speculated that the government's difficulty in guiding the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill through its Standing Committee stage in Parliament led to a decision that the Solicitor-General would be useful to have as a Member of Parliament. He kept the seat with a much-reduced majority of 971 after a low-key campaign.
Subsequent legal career
Anderson was taken ill in March 1964 and was forced to announce his resignation from the government and from the Northern Lighthouse BoardNorthern Lighthouse Board
The Northern Lighthouse Board is the General Lighthouse Authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is a non-departmental public body responsible for marine navigation aids around coastal areas.-History:...
on 17 March. Initially intending to carry on as MP, a month later he gave up the candidacy and therefore left Parliament at the dissolution in September. When he recovered from illness, Anderson resumed his legal career and in 1965 was appointed Honorary Sheriff-Substitute
Sheriff-substitute
A Sheriff-substitute is an official appointed under the law of Scotland to perform the judicial duties normally undertaken by the Sheriff principal. The Sheriff-substitute is also known as 'Sheriff depute' or simply 'Sheriff'. According to the as amended by the Sheriff Courts Act 1971 , s. 4:"17...
for Lothians and Peebles. He was a Chairman of Scottish Industrial Tribunals from 1971 to 1972 and was Chief Reporter for Public Inquiries and Under-Secretary for the Scottish Office from 1972.
Scandal and trial
However, his legal career was ended when he was fined £Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
50 for accosting two 14-year-old girls, and asking them to walk on him and beat him up. Anderson had been in Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
on 18 December 1972, presiding over the first major public inquiry of his new post. The prosecution claimed that Anderson, finding himself out of his home town, had approached the girls and asked them to go to a quiet place with him.
The case had been controversial as the girls failed to identify Anderson and he was given an alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
by one of the staff members of the hotel where he was staying. Anderson's wife also gave evidence that the coat he was supposedly wearing on the night was being cleaned at the time. Anderson, who claimed the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
had framed him by using a lookalike to impersonate him and get in trouble, appealed the conviction but lost. He was dismissed from his posts in 1974.
Campaign for exoneration
He continued to press his innocence and in 1980 the playwright John Hale wrote The Case of David Anderson QC which was sympathetic to his position. The play was put on in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Edinburgh and at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
. Anderson had not succeeded in clearing his name by the time of his death. In September 2002 it was announced that the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission is a non-departmental public body in Scotland, established by the Criminal Procedure Act 1995 ....
was looking into the case, but it concluded in February 2005 that the conviction should stand.