DAVID Irwin has seen it all as sheriff clerk depute at Oban Sheriff Court, but last week he hung up his gown for good for a quiet retirement of hillwalking and skiing.
David has spent the past four decades helping to keep sheriff courts and the admin of the law ticking over but, despite all his long experience sitting in the courtroom, he has only served on a jury once – as an extra on the set of the BBC TV drama River City.
Speaking to us on the day he retired, Friday September 9, the 61-year-old reflected he had spent 41 years in the court service, which he joined quite unexpectedly. ‘I was working for Safeway in East Kilbride,’ he recalled. ‘I was home one night and my mother said someone from Hamil ton sheriff court was on the phone, and they said I was to start there on Monday morning. I said: ‘What’s a sheriff court?’ That was September 8, 1975. So it’s been 41 years and one day.’