Former crofting chief faces assault trial

A former convener of the Crofting Commission and current serving commissioner – whose previous actions in relation to a village in Lewis led to the organisation issuing a public apology – is facing a trial at Oban Sheriff Court, accused of assault and acting in an abusive and threatening manner.

The incident involving Colin Kennedy is said to have taken place at a property on the island of Coll which is marketed on-line as a holiday home. A trial date has been set for 7th March.

On his register of land and properties, Mr Kennedy owns Caolas Farm at Croft 2 Arinagour, and wind turbines, close to the property where the assault is alleged to have taken place.

Mr Kennedy, who was elected to serve the commission’s south-west constituency at the last election, served as convener from 2015 to 2017 – a two-year period in which the commission was mired in controversy.

After deliberating over a row in Upper Coll in Lewis over how to spend money raised through activities on the village’s common grazing, Mr Kennedy faced fierce criticism from the crofting community at large and from his bosses at the Scottish Government, who instructed him to stand down.

The dispute centred on whether the village committee should be able to invest in wider community initiatives, or purely on projects which benefit the shareholders from an agricultural perspective.

Rather than preside over a process which encouraged conciliation, Mr Kennedy removed the grazing committee from office and put in place a “grazing constable” to run their affairs, retired police inspector Colin Souter from Nairn.

The then rural affairs minister Fergus Ewing instructed the commission to rescind its decisions and apologise.

In the subsequent election that followed, Mr Kennedy was unsuccessful, but secured enough votes to be returned last year.

However, he is now facing a trial at Oban Sheriff Court which, if found guilty, could have repercussions for being able to continue in public office.

The sheriff clerk’s office in Oban confirmed that on the 29th June 2021 at Pier View, Arinagour, Coll, he is accused of committing an “assault” and at the same property on the same day of “behaving in a threatening and abusive manner”.

A commission spokesperson said: “Colin Kennedy is a serving Commissioner at the Crofting Commission, having been elected for the South West Highlands constituency in March 2022. The Code of Conduct sets out a general expectation of commissioners that they will uphold the law and act in accordance with the law. The Commission can make no further comment.”

Other than the “key principle” of upholding the law, the code also expects commissioners to “treat everyone with courtesy and respect”.