New sheriff has been introduced at Inverness Justice Centre

A NEW sheriff has been introduced at Inverness Justice Centre.

David Harvie has had a variety of roles within the legal system but his most notable one was in the case of the killing of Arlene Fraser in Elgin in1998.

He was the director of serious case work in the Crown Office during the prosecution of Nat Fraser, Arlene’s husband.

Sheriff Harvie graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1991 with an LLB (Hons) degree, obtaining the Diploma in Legal Practice in 1992.

After a spell as a solicitor in private practice, he joined the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

He became a Solicitor Advocate in 2014 and was appointed Crown Agent, the Head of COPFS, in 2016.

The new sheriff was welcomed to the bench by Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle, procurator fiscal Andrew Shanks and solicitor Robert Cruickshank on behalf of the faculty of solicitors.

Sheriff Pyle said Sheriff Harvie was the first Crown agent to become a sheriff in 20 years.

“But I want him to be a poacher turned gamekeeper,” he said. “His mother was born in Dufftown, his wife was born in Inverness and brought up in Aviemore where his in-laws still live.”

Sheriff Harvie thanked Inverness colleagues: “I particularly want to thank them because they have been extraordinarily patient and a source of sage advice for me.”