STV NewsOne of Scotland’s leading criminal defence advocates has spoken of the moment he thought his mother had been killed by his father at their home in Glasgow.
Thomas Ross KC has told STV News about being a child growing up in the shadow of alcohol-fuelled domestic abuse.
He says that more than half a century later, there’s still a lot of work to be done to tackle the problem.
Ross has appeared in more than 250 trials at the High Court, often involved in the legal process around the lowest moments in people’s lives.
But he himself is no stranger to hardship, having grown up as the youngest child of a single-parent family living on a council estate near Cardonald.
He lived with his father, after his mother moved to England before he finished primary school, fleeing from an abusive relationship that her son feared could have cost her her life.
Decades on, Ross believes there is “still a lot of work” to be done in tackling domestic abuse, which has been described as reaching “epidemic proportions” by fellow KC, Michael O’Grady.
Speaking on his experience, Ross said: “You feel very helpless.
“Obviously something bad has gone on, and when you’re very young – I was less than eight, I suppose, when the worst of it was going on – you’re really just trapped in a room listening to it develop, and you’re completely powerless to do anything about it, and I suppose that feeling stays with you.
STV News“When I hear people talking about it, it brings some of it back.
“I don’t doubt for a second that it was quite widespread. There was a culture back then that women stayed in the house, and the men went out for a drink. Probably the police weren’t that responsive to it. Women felt quite ashamed of it and would cover it up. A huge amount of it probably went unreported.
“We didn’t talk about it, but we all lived in the same close, so the neighbours would’ve heard it.”
Ross recalled how both his parents had problems with alcohol. Both of them had passed away from their addictions by the time he left the solicitor profession in the 1990’s.
“The two of them were alcoholics. That doesn’t excuse it – it didn’t happen during the week when they weren’t drunk. But undoubtedly, she was a victim of domestic abuse. When you’re eight, it’s hard to assess it.
“I don’t think there was any violence from her, but she would be verbally aggressive.
“It would start as a verbally aggressive argument with two participants, but the physical violence would certainly be perpetrated by the man.”
STV NewsEventually, his mother fled the family home to move to her sister’s in Blackpool – after an incident that made Thomas fear the worst.
“I remember my dad coming and picking me up from school, which never ever happened. I came back to the flat, and there was blood all over the bathroom, and I thought ‘he’s killed her’. That’s what I thought”, he explained.
“He hadn’t, in fact, she had tried to take her own life. I think that was the point when her family got her out.
“I think I was glad that she left because, although I missed her, I thought that would probably end it, the fact that they were separated from each other. I remember feeling that it’s a shame that I’ve lost my mum, but at least she was safe.
“I think my decision to get into law was probably connected to it, more so because my dad ended up in prison for 60 days.
“It started as a breach, and he fought with the police, which I think was pretty harsh for his first offence.
“He used to talk about it; he got seven or eight broken ribs from the police who arrested him. I was brought up with the idea that not everybody is treated equally by the police and the legal system, and maybe there’s a need to get involved in it.
“I was talking about being a lawyer in primary school, which isn’t very common.”
In recent weeks, John Swinney has pledged his personal attention to tackling domestic abuse in Scotland, following a number of high-profile cases, including several where women have been murdered by their partners.
The First Minister said the scale of the issue had been “laid bare” following the murders of two women by their former partners within days in July.
Vikki Soloman, 44, was killed by her ex-partner in Edinburgh, while 35-year-old Stacy Hunter was murdered in Renfrewshire by her estranged husband.
Ross acknowledges society has moved on, but believes there is a long way to go.
“It wasn’t that unusual when I was growing up, I don’t think”, he added.
“You’d be conscious of the fact that some men would be abusive towards their wives. That is no longer acceptable, but the fact that it’s no longer acceptable doesn’t stop some men from doing it.
STV News“So that’s the next challenge – there’s more awareness about it. Part of the reason I’m talking about it is that I feel there should be more awareness of it.
“It’s good that people are looking for solutions, but the fact that women are still being beaten to death by their partners in 2026 shows there is still a lot of work to be done.
“As everyone knows, the fact that you make something criminal, like coercive control, doesn’t stop anyone from doing it.
“I thought a domestic violence register based on the sex offenders register was a good idea, but given that that’s failed, I think the best way to tackle it would be for prosecutors in court to have more information on the individual abuser.
“A lot of the complaints come from the fact that people get bailed when they shouldn’t.
“Part of the reason for that is that the sheriff doesn’t have all the information about previous offending. If the prosecutor had information about that, and perhaps some information on the new allegations.
“The worry is always that you remand someone and they’re innocent.
“Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking that the law can solve all these problems, but it can’t. If someone is willing to do something and take his life, you wonder what deterrent that the law can offer.
“We can do more than we’re doing at the moment. I don’t think that’s due to a lack of commitment.”
Earlier this week, the First Minister announced that people accused of domestic abuse will be GPS-tracked by next year in a debate about violence against women and girls.
During his speech to Parliament, the First Minister also promised to invest in programmes to help young people challenge harmful stereotypes about women and girls, including a “multi-year, public health campaign aimed at boys and men to challenge misogyny and harmful behaviours”.
He also said the £2m Fund To Leave was being made permanent, providing “practical and financial support to women and children leaving abusive partners”.
Swinney said his Government was “committed to addressing the root causes, the cultural causes of gender based violence”.
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