Scots lawyer charged with child abuse appeared on TV as 'legal expert'
Attendees only discovered his conviction via an internet search after he became embroiled in a heated debate with Mike Pilbeam, a former McClure's client and lead campaigner on the issue.
A paedophile lawyer appeared on TV as a legal 'expert' despite being charged with child abuse.
Alan Eccles was handed 300 hours of community service after he admitted taking part in sick conversations about child sex abuse online and sharing images of youngsters.
But despite having already appeared in court charged with the offences, Eccles, 44, appeared on a TV programme in April about a Scottish law firm's closure as an 'expert in setting up trusts'.
And even days after his guilty plea, brazen Eccles attended a community meeting about the collapse of McClure solicitors with former clients and MPs.
Attendees only discovered his conviction via an internet search after he became embroiled in a heated debate with Mike Pilbeam, a former McClure's client and lead campaigner on the issue, who had set up the meeting to help those affected.
Pilbeam said: 'There were a number of individuals who had used Alan Eccles at the meeting and had a degree of sympathy with him over the altercation.
'But when one member Googled him the following day and saw the report about the charges he had faced and his guilty plea, that sympathy disappeared.'
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Thousands of people say they had family trusts which they didn't know about and have had to pay extortionate fees to wrestle ownership of their homes from McClure's trustees.
On the programme, which aired on April 4, Eccles spoke extensively about how he had helped dozens of former clients of McClure solicitors, which shut down in 2021.
The community meeting took place on May 9 in the south side of Glasgow. The Sunday Mail previously revealed Eccles worked for the Scottish Youth Parliament during a time when the organisation was accused of mishandling complaints about child sexual harassment.
SYP said he had no involvement in the probe into handling of complaints.
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