He studied at the University of St Andrews, graduating MA in 1963, and at the School of Law at Glasgow, taking an LLB in 1965.
[2] In 1982, he became Standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Education Department, and between then and 1985 he served as an Advocate-Depute, taking silk in 1984.
[2] He served for a time on the Judicial Studies Committee for Scotland,[3] and was elevated to the Inner House in 2005.
In 2010-11 he chaired the Mull of Kintyre Review of evidence relating to the fatal Chinook helicopter crash on Kintyre on 2 June 1994, as a result of which the previous finding that the pilots of the aircraft had been guilty of gross negligence was set aside.
He enjoys golf and piping, and is a member of the Royal Scottish Pipers' Society, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers