LETTER: Crowdfunder was NOT to pay fine for north-west Sutherland crofter

In your front page report last week “Upset over fundraiser for crofter”, you write – “The money was intended to meet both the fine and legal costs”.

This is quite wrong, as you yourself show when you go on to quote my message on the fundraiser – “…by helping to alleviate the burden that has been placed on him with the legal fees he has incurred”.

The muirburn at Clashmore, which the Clashmore and Raffin Common Grazing Committee refer to, was indeed started by Ian. It was solely his fault and he admitted this at the time. He was rightly found guilty of two of the three charges against him, and fined.

The problem was that he was also charged with having been involved in three further fires, two at Achnacarnin on different days and one at Raffin. These were the charges he fought against and these were the charges that were eventually dismissed by the court.

It was the cost involved in defending himself against these charges that the fundraiser was intended to meet.

Had the Achnacarnin and Raffin fires not been added to Ian’s charge sheet, there would have been no court case and the resulting distress for all involved would have been greatly reduced.

Ray Mackay

Achmelvich

Lochinver

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