Findlay: Pope joke was not offensive

Donald Findlay, QC, has been accused of bringing the Faculty of Advocates into disrepute after he told the joke about the Pope, as well as one about a nun, in an after-dinner speech.

Two complaints were made to the faculty after his appearance at a Rangers supporters club in Larne, Northern Ireland, was reported in the media. The event took place in May 2005, about a month after the death of Pope John Paul II.

Mr Findlay was reported to have told the audience: "It's very smoky in here tonight, has another f****** Pope died?"

If found guilty, the QC could face expulsion from membership of the Faculty of Advocates, a fine of up to £15,000, or suspension.

Mr Findlay told a faculty disciplinary tribunal in Edinburgh yesterday that it was not his intention to cause offence.

He told the tribunal panel, chaired by former judge Lord Coulsfield: "To the best of my recollection the way I told the joke was to blow clouds of smoke about the place, cough, splutter, and say f*** sake has another Pope died'."

Mr Findlay, former vice-chairman of Rangers FC, added: "When the possibility of this joke was drawn to my attention, and it was worked out how to tell it, it didn't cross my mind people would find it offensive."

The lawyer had offered an "unreserved apology" to the two men who had complained to the faculty about his remarks if they had been offended.

He explained the joke was not about the death of Pope John Paul II saying: "It was, in this modern era, poking fun at the practice of announcing the election of a new pontiff by puffing smoke out of a chimney."

Describing the joke about the nun, he said he told his audience he would substitute swear words with the word "turnip" before saying he had met a nun with the the largest turnip he had even seen.

Mr Findlay, who described himself as an atheist, said it was not his intention to cause offence to members of any particular religion.

But he insisted under European human rights law he had the right to free speech.

Mr Hugh Lynch, 65, from Larbert in Stirlingshire, a retired headteacher of a Catholic school, contacted the faculty after reading newspaper reports of the event.

In his letter to the faculty, which was read to the tribunal, Mr Lynch said: "The legal profession is brought into disrepute by this kind of bigotry.

"This kind of public conduct is disgraceful and completely unacceptable, especially when you consider the statement was made in a part of Northern Ireland noted for its troubles." He added: "It seemed to me this was an appalling remark to make."

Another witness, Tom Minogue, said he had written to the faculty to complain that Mr Findlay acted in a "bigoted and racist way".

The 62-year-old from Dunfermline said: "Larne is a community where attacks on the Catholic minority are a problem. Mr Findlay's attempt to try to fan the flames of sectarianism there are disgraceful."

Paul Cullen, QC, representing Mr Findlay, said a petition had been raised in Mr Findlay's favour and insisted there had been no bigoted behaviour, describing how his colleague is an atheist.

Advocate Frances Connor, called as a witness for Mr Findlay, described how she came from a large Catholic family in Lanarkshire with relatives who were nuns.

She said people she had spoken to both inside and outside the legal profession had expressed concerns that Catholics could be seen as "humourless and narrow-minded" as a result of such complaints.

Mr Findlay, one of Scotland's highest-paid lawyers, has defended accused persons in some of the country's biggest trials.

He represented Luke Mitchell, who was convicted of murdering teenager Jodi Jones, and also appeared for Peter Tobin, who was found guilty of raping and murdering Polish student Angelika Kluk.

He resigned as the vice-chairman of Rangers Football Club after singing sectarian songs at a function in 1999.

The tribunal, chaired by former judge Lord Coulsfield, will give a written decision at a later date.