'Devil's Advocate' backs campaign

Mr di Stefano said he pointed out to Swag who has represented previously

Controversial lawyer Giovanni di Stefano says he has been asked to represent an anti-wind farm campaign on the Isle of Skye.

His previous clients have included M25 killer Kenneth Noye and serial killer Harold Shipman and he offered to defend Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Mr di Stefano said he was approached by Skye Wind Farm Action Group (Swag).

He described the group's fight against a proposed wind farm at Edinbane as a "David and Goliath case".

Speaking from Rome, Mr di Stefano said: "It is not a normal case I would take up, I'm a criminal lawyer, but I cannot stand to see big boys going up against minnows there."

The BBC documentary Notorious: The Devil's Advocate, screened in 2004, detailed Mr di Stefano's work for clients such as GP Harold Shipman.

Mr di Stefano revealed that he had warned Swag of his reputation and how he was swayed to represent the group.

'Deserve respect'

He said: "I received hundreds of letters, this one I picked out simply because my son, who was in Scotland before, said this was worthy of looking at.

"I met the people concerned. They went 24 hours to see me, I was in Dublin at the time. People who go out of their way deserve respect."

He added that a compromise would be to construct the wind farm offshore.

International power company Amec was given permission to build 27 turbines at Edinbane, north of Portree, nearly four years ago.

Last month, Amec said it would scale down the project to meet concerns expressed by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds.