He specialised in charity law

A Scottish charity lawyer has been found guilty of child sex offences.

Alan Eccles, 44, is awaiting sentence after being found guilty of three charges at Paisley Sheriff Court.

He admitted to engaging in grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing conversations about the sexual abuse of children.

He also shared indecent photos of kids and an intimate pic of a woman from an address in Giffnock, near Glasgow, between October 22 and November 14, 2023.

Eccles, from Bearsden, specialises in charity law and has written extensively on setting up trusts as well as Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) and has been an adviser to a number of charities.

Rachel Wood, executive director of regulation at the Law Society of Scotland, said: “In any case where we have reason to believe a solicitor has not met the high professional standards expected of them, we will take action.

“In the most serious cases, we prosecute solicitors for misconduct before an independent Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal, which has the power to strike a solicitor from the roll.”

Sentencing will take place next month.