By Florence Boyle
One of the most important Scottish legal cases of the 20th century is Donoghue v Stevenson, and Mrs Donoghue one of its most famous litigants.
Anyone who studies Scots Law will come across it as it set case law worldwide.
But it also has an unexpected local connection.
On a night out with a friend in August 1928, Mrs Donoghue ordered a ginger beer floater at the Wellmeadow Café in Paisley.
The ginger beer was made by a local manufacturer, Mr Stevenson.
Neither Mrs Donoghue nor the café owner noticed, until it was poured, that there was a decomposing snail in the bottle.
In the following few days Mrs Donoghue was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and admitted to hospital.
Following her recovery, she began legal proceedings to secure damages.
As the law stood, she could only sue the person she had a contract with (the café owner) but it was clear he had no knowledge or responsibility.
Mrs Donoghue knew a solicitor through her brother, a Mr Walter G Leechman, he was a solicitor who would take a case on a no-win no-fee basis.
He had fought similar cases, and failed, but this time he was prepared.
As expected, the case failed in the Scottish courts but within weeks Leechman appealed to the House of Lords.
Mrs Donoghue’s counsel argued a manufacturer who puts a product on the market had a duty, to ensure it was safe.
The Law Lords agreed it was a duty owed by any ‘good neighbour’ and Mrs Donoghue won her case.
At the time of this victory Leechman was living in Bowling, in what had been the Burrell family home, having moved into the area around 1910, initially living and running his practice
in Old Kilpatrick for some years before moving to Bowling.
Mrs Donoghue’s success means that today consumers worldwide enjoy protection from dangerous products which aren’t fit for purpose and this landmark victory was secured by a local man.
Born in 1870 in what is now Bishopbriggs, Leechman was a rebel and a maverick, known as much for his socialist politics as his legal abilities.
He stood as a parliamentary candidate (always unsuccessfully) for the infant Labour Party in Mid Lanark, Maryhill, Kelvin and Springburn constituencies.
It was the era of protest and civil resistance.
And he was not averse to creating trouble of his own.
On a visit to the House of Commons in 1913, Leechman, his wife Barbara and his friend, another Dunbartonshire figure, former MP Robert Cunninghame Graham, refused to sign an undertaking that they would keep quiet and not interject in proceedings.
Leechman objected to having to provide such an undertaking and his high-volume protest was heard in the chamber and caused some amusement among MPs.
Police officers eventually escorted Leechman from the public gallery.
In March 1914 police sought to break up a Glasgow meeting which was due to be addressed by the suffragette leader Mrs Pankhurst.
Pankhurst had previously been arrested and charged across the UK with incitement to riot.
As the police sought to detain her before the meeting started, a riot broke out, women threw chairs and there were several injuries before Pankhurst was physically dragged out by police to a
waiting car.
Leechman was part of a deputation who met with the Lord Provost calling for an enquiry into the circumstances of Mrs Pankhurst’s arrest.
Mrs Donoghue may have been one of Leechman’s more sympathetic clients but informed by his politics, his passion for the underdog, his belief that everyone deserved good legal representation he was the go-to lawyer for insurrectionists, protestors and rebels.
His circle included Red Clydesiders like John Maxton, Manny Shinwell and local Clydebank MP David Kirkwood.
In 1919 he represented the George Square rioters, in 1921 following an armed attack by Sinn Fein in Glasgow, in which one policeman was killed and another seriously injured, Leechman
represented some of the defendants.
He also visited and represented the legendary John MacLean.
Whilst maintaining his substantial legal practice Leechman found time to speak around the country to advocate for the cause of socialism.
A local newspaper advert in February 1920 invited readers to a join him for a pleasant Sunday evening, hosted by the Vale of Leven branch for the Independent Labour Party with the added drawcard of a musical interlude provided by Mr Miller a piano concertina player.
Leechman raised his family in Old Kilpatrick, his sons travelled to Glasgow for their education.
One of his sons, James, like his father became a solicitor and, also like his father supported the Labour Party.
In 1964 James was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in Harold Wilson’s government.
Leechman died in 1943 on a visit to his daughter in Perthshire, he was survived by his second wife Margaret who remained living in the area until her death, and his adult children.