Altnabreac station and the various legal disputes around it

[Peter Mugridge]

In other words, it's been adjourned?

 

[Stathern Jc]

Given the scheduling constraints so far, I imagine that the Court staff will be disappointed and would have liked to have had this one done and dusted rather than having it bouncing along like the others.

 

[styles]

Set for next Wednesday 9th at 9:30am. Email the courts 2 days prior for WebEx link.

 

[oldman]

The charming Kevin Booth of Lochdhu has lost his appeal against a travel ban (BBC article):

A millionaire who abused vulnerable women in his Highland lodge has lost an appeal to overturn a worldwide travel ban.

In February 2025, a civil court ruled that Kevin Booth recruited women from the UK and abroad and submitted them to violent beatings at his home in a remote area of Caithness.

He was given a ban preventing him from travelling outside the UK for five years after Police Scotland raised the civil action against him.

 

[EYFanatic]

The charming Kevin Booth of Lochdhu has lost his appeal against a travel ban (BBC article):

Just curious - what is stopping him using a ferry from Scotland to travel to Northern Ireland and then crossing the border by land?

 

[Acathater]

Just curious - what is stopping him using a ferry from Scotland to travel to Northern Ireland and then crossing the border by land?

The threat of prison if he's caught would be one consideration
And presumably they've taken his passport away

 

[AlterEgo]

The threat of prison if he's caught would be one consideration
And presumably they've taken his passport away

The article says he has had to surrender his passport.

 

[Egg Centric]

Just curious - what is stopping him using a ferry from Scotland to travel to Northern Ireland and then crossing the border by land?

Well even if he does so what? This is more about protecting third world women from being treated as commodities, something that isn't so much of a problem with Irish ones in that they're far less vulnerable and just as importantly have more or less as much of a recourse if they are exploited as here.

 

[EYFanatic]

Well even if he does so what? This is more about protecting third world women from being treated as commodities, something that isn't so much of a problem with Irish ones in that they're far less vulnerable and just as importantly have more or less as much of a recourse if they are exploited as here.

I was asking about the world wide travel ban on him - just curious as to how it would stop him going to Ireland via the land border unless there is a system in place

 

[Elwyn]

I was asking about the world wide travel ban on him - just curious as to how it would stop him going to Ireland via the land border unless there is a system in place

There’s nothing to stop him crossing the Irish land border, in the same way as there’s nothing to stop someone disqualified from driving getting behind a wheel. Just that if detected, the consequences can be quite severe.

 

[Krokodil]

And he'd still not be able to go beyond Ireland without a passport anyway

 

[AlterEgo]

I expect his details have been shared with the Garda.

 

[Northerngirl]

I only check in on this debacle occasional, to save me from reading 30 pages of messages, how in the world have we gone from some grumpy people not wanting passengers walking past their driveway, to sex trafficking

 

[SargeNpton]

I only check in on this debacle occasional, to save me from reading 30 pages of messages, how in the world have we gone from some grumpy people not wanting passengers walking past their driveway, to sex trafficking

Perhaps because people who choose to live in places that are that far out of the way tend to be odd in some way.

 

[ainsworth74]

I only check in on this debacle occasional, to save me from reading 30 pages of messages, how in the world have we gone from some grumpy people not wanting passengers walking past their driveway, to sex trafficking

Indeed. Whilst it is local to Altnabreac the crimes of Kevin Booth are not actually relevant to this thread so I suggest we leave it there and go back to our watching brief for the various legal cases that are directly relevant to the couple at the heart of this saga.

 

[ejstubbs]

Set for next Wednesday 9th at 9:30am. Email the courts 2 days prior for WebEx link.

Did it go ahead?

 

[altnabreac hq]

Did it go ahead?

It did yes,

The Sheriff said he has concerns about the case and has
Ordained all parties to written proceedings for minute to vairy and extend the hearing in 3 weeks time

He said he is not intreasted in what has happened previously or about an expired interdict or who has done what as it seams they have lost sight to this case

The sheriff said he wants
Written submissions on the competence of the hearing no less than 48 hours before that hearing.

The next hearing is to be on
Wednesday 30th September 2026 at 9.30am via webex again.

 

[styles]

Did it go ahead?

It depends what you defined as 'going ahead' I suppose!

I has been continued until the 30th September at 9:30am, remotely from Inverness justice centre. If anyone wants to attend, email inverness@scotcourts.gov.uk two days in advance to be added to the WebEx meeting.

Indeed. Whilst it is local to Altnabreac the crimes of Kevin Booth are not actually relevant to this thread so I suggest we leave it there and go back to our watching brief for the various legal cases that are directly relevant to the couple at the heart of this saga.

I feel this is debatable. The couple themselves have suggested on YouTube that ScotRail, Network Rail, the British Transport Police (don't have a link handy and I may be wrong!), the courts, Police Scotland, Booth's builders, have been protecting Booth, and that he's been using the station and this protecting to facilitate things. I wouldn't go into much detail about Booth and his specific acts in this thread, but the general nature of it, and the civil action Booth is taking against the station cottage owners, does indirectly relate to the railway and the station. They've also taken covert audio recordings of ScotRail staff discussing Booth. So while I agree Booth's specific crimes are not directly relevant, I would suggest that things like Booth's civil action against the couple, and even some light details on what else he's been convicted of, is relevant if the people who inadvertently closed the railway station are suggesting this is all a cover-up (which, who knows, they may even turn out to be right about, though it does seem unlikely to us casual observers).

Accessibility note - the hyperlinks above are all for YouTube videos. It's quite lengthy to put transcripts into this thread but full video transcripts are available on YouTube.