Crofter refuses to admit defeat

A north Sutherland crofter is refusing to admit defeat on a local turf war which has already cost him £60,000 in legal fees.

Ross Murray emerged the loser in a six year legal battle with a neighbour over the status of two acres of bogland on Strath-Halladale.

The case appeared to be settled at the end of September last year when the Court of Session, Scotland’s supreme civil court, ruled in favour of Heather Jardine.

But Mr Murray remains aggrieved about the way the case has been handled and claims he is the victim of rough justice.

He revealed this week that he is considering appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.

He is also to seek the support of Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill.

The spat centres on two-thirds of an area known as White Well Park on the crofting township of Dalhalvaig, towards the south end of the strath.

Forty-four-year-old Ms Jardine successfully claimed it is part of her holding at Number 47.

Mr Murray, 59, initially maintained it formed part of his croft at Number 51.

But in the course of the Scottish Land Court divisional hearing into the dispute, he changed his stance to contending that the ground was part of the common grazings.

The eight day land court hearing held in Melvich and Inverness in 2008 upheld her claim that the disputed land formed part of her 25-acre croft.

Mr Murray’s appeal to the full land court was knocked back, as was his bid to have the decision over-turned at the Court of Session.

While accepting none of the records are conclusive, the judges found the land court was entitled to have confidence in the acreages cited in the Inland Revenue maps.

Despite having spent a small fortune and having exhausted the UK’s legal process, he is not prepared to admit defeat.

Mr Murray, who works at Dounreay, is being supported by his brother and fellow crofter Sandy Murray, a long-time grazings clerk and assessor at Halladale.

• More on this story in Friday’s Northern Times