The Inquiry Team
Lord Bracadale
Lord Bracadale
Chair
The Rt. Hon. Lord Bracadale (Alastair Campbell) was appointed as a judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary in 2003, and to the Inner House in 2013. He presided over some of the most high profile criminal trials in recent Scottish history before retiring as a judge in 2017.
In 2016, Lord Bracadale was appointed as a surveillance commissioner and in 2017 he became a judicial commissioner under the Investigatory Powers Act.
Lord Bracadale was appointed by the Scottish Government in 2017 to lead an independent review of hate crime legislation.
Raju Bhatt
Raju Bhatt
Assessor
Raju Bhatt is one of the founding partners of Bhatt Murphy, a team of lawyers based in London working together to make a contribution to the protection of civil liberties in the UK. He specialises in working with members of the public who seek accountability from the state and its officers, focussing upon the treatment of individuals in the criminal justice system in particular.
Mr Bhatt's experience and authority in relation to deaths in custody and other contentious circumstances has been recognised on various fronts. In 2015, he was appointed to the Reference Group on the Independent Review of Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody by Dame Elish Angiolini, which reported to the Home Secretary in 2017. In 2010, he was appointed to the Hillsborough Independent Panel which reported to the Home Secretary in September 2012.
Michael Fuller QPM
Michael Fuller QPM
Assessor
Michael Fuller is a former Chief Constable of Kent Police and Her Majesty's Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service. He has more than three decades of experience in policing including managing numerous high profile incidents and investigations.
Working in the Met, Mr Fuller helped establish the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force and drew up the action plan in response to criticism arising from the Macpherson Inquiry which investigated the death of Stephen Lawrence.
He is the holder of the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) for distinguished police service.
Angela Grahame KC
Angela Grahame KC
Senior counsel
Angela Thomson Grahame KC became an advocate in 1995 and took silk in 2009. She has considerable experience of public inquiries including the Fingerprint Inquiry, Vale of Leven Hospital Inquiry and Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Between 2016 and 2020 she was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Advocates. Since 2013, Ms Grahame has been a legal member of the Police Appeals Tribunal in Scotland. Between 2003 and 2007 she was a full-time advocate depute and senior advocate depute for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Ms Grahame is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an accredited mediator. She is an honorary lecturer at Aberdeen University.
Laura Thomson KC
Laura Thomson KC
Senior counsel
Laura Thomson called to the Bar in 2014 and took silk in 2024.
She was previously standing junior counsel to the Scottish Government. Prior to calling to the Bar, Ms Thomson spent 12 years working within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service; she held various roles, including managing the investigation of sudden, suspicious and unexpected deaths. Latterly, she held appointment as an advocate depute, from 2009 to 2012.
Her practice centres on personal injury and professional negligence cases and she is frequently instructed in claims arising from fatalities.
Rachel Barrett
Rachel Barrett
Junior counsel
Rachel Barrett is a barrister at Cloisters chambers specialising in discrimination, employment and human rights law, as well as inquests and inquiries. She has acted as junior counsel to the Infected Blood Inquiry.
Ms Barrett was called to the Bar in 2012, worked as a judicial assistant to Lord Wilson and Lord Hodge in the Supreme Court in 2014-2015 and was appointed as a fee-paid employment judge in 2020.
Sarah Loosemore
Sarah Loosemore
Junior counsel
Sarah Loosemore called to the Scottish bar in 2022, having called to the bar in Ontario, Canada, in 2003. Her principal areas of experience and interest are criminal law, public law and personal injury.
Ms Loosemore spent 15 years practising as a barrister and solicitor in Ontario in criminal, regulatory and public law.
Since calling to the Scottish bar, Ms Loosemore has appeared regularly in the High Court and the Court of Session, as well as the Sheriff Court and Sheriff Appeal Court on a variety of civil and criminal matters.