Edinburgh brothel madam loses court appeal bid

A brothel madam who claimed she was a victim of a miscarriage of justice has lost a bid to have her case referred back to appeal judges again.

The Court of Session in Edinburgh. Pic: Shutterstock

Margaret Paterson, 65, was jailed for five years in 2013 and later made the subject of a £1m confiscation order to seize crime profits.

Paterson has since made attempts to get the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, to refer her case to the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.

After a decision last year refusing the move she raised an action for judicial review seeking to have the ruling set aside and an order made requiring the commission to reconsider.

But a judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh refused the judicial review petition after a debate on time bar.

Lady Clark of Calton said: “I take into account that there have been months of delay before raising the present petition and in my opinion no good reason has been advanced to justify such a delay.”

Paterson had denied brothel-keeping and proceeds of crime charges at her trial and after she was found guilty tried to appeal both her conviction and sentence.

She was dubbed “Madam Moneybags” and in a subsequent confiscation action it was agreed she had a £1 million benefit figure from crime.

Police seized £210,000 in cash and her assets included a property portfolio in Edinburgh’s west end.