FOR THE first time in it’s long and varied history Dunoon Sheriff Court now has an all female staff, following the appointment of a new Sheriff – who has vowed to bring ‘local justice’ to the heart of the community.
On Friday morning a significant and historical event took place at the town’s court house and for once it didn’t involve a sentencing or a trial.
A special induction ceremony took place where Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Argyll and Bute, Jane Margaret MacLeod was joined by Sheriff Principal Sean Murphy to swear in Sheriff Laura Mundell.
Solicitors, representatives from the procurator fiscal’s office, court staff, Sheriff Mundell’s family members and friends, social workers and members of the local police force attended the event to witness the induction.
Sheriff Mundell joined the Crown Office and procurator fiscal service in 1998, going on to hold a number of senior posts as a district procurator fiscal in a variety of locations across Scotland. In 2016, she took up the post of sheriffdom procurator fiscal for North Strathclyde and was appointed head of the Scottish fatalities investigation unit, and deputy procurator fiscal for the national specialist casework division in 2019. She was appointed as a summary sheriff in North Strathclyde based at Paisley in October 2021 before becoming a resident summary sheriff at Kilmarnock since December 2022.
During the ceremony on Friday Sheriff Mundell thanked members of her family for making the trip to Dunoon and their unwavering support over the years with a special mention for her parents.
She explained: “In particular I would like to thank my mum and dad for teaching me important life values of integrity, fairness and compassion, values that help to guide me in many of the difficult decisions a sheriff makes every day.
“Its almost impossible to put into words how honoured and humbled I feel to be sitting here today as the new sheriff at Dunoon Sheriff Court and it is a particular pleasure to be appointed to serve as a sheriff in North Strathclyde. I have had a long standing professional association with the sheriffdom of North Strathclyde for over 25 years. The posts I’ve held during that time both as a procurator fiscal and for the last three years as a summary sheriff in Paisley and Kilmarnock, have allowed me to appear in every sheriff court in this sheriffdom and to get to know and work alongside many of those who serve within the sheriffdom.”
Sheriff Mundell then took the opportunity to explain to those gathered to witness her induction the reason why she took the job at Dunoon Sheriff Court, even though at the time of her application there were a number of sheriff posts available in a variety of locations across Scotland.
She explained: “I believe in local justice and I’ve always believed that true community justice is often best served and best seen on a smaller scale where the local sheriff court sits right at the heart of the town and the heart of the wider local community, exactly as Dunoon Sheriff Court does. Members of the local community come to a sheriff court for a variety of reasons and at many different times of their lives. No matter the reason why they come to the sheriff court they all come looking for one thing and expecting one thing – justice.”
She added: “Not everyone who comes to court leaves with the decisions or outcomes they wanted but my experience as a summary sheriff over the last three years have shown me that people generally are much more accepting of the decision of the court even if the decision goes against them. If they come away feeling that they’ve been treated fairly with dignity and respect, feeling that they’ve been listened to and heard and feeling that the decision in their case has been explained to them with patience and they understand the reasons for it, that for me is justice being seen to be done and that’s what I hope to achieve in my new role here, to deliver justice and just outcomes for the people who live in and love this community.”
Sheriff Mundell’s appointment on Friday was a momentous event for Dunoon Sheriff court as it now means that there is, for the first time in the court’s history, an all female staff in operation, with Kim Good, sheriff clerk depute since 2001, Carol Kerr, senior administrative officer since 2004, Emma Black, administrative officer since September 2024 and a new court officer to start in near future who will also be female.
