Claims over Shetlands postponed

Stuart Hill says Scots law has no jurisdiction in Shetland

An attempt to persuade Lerwick Sheriff Court that the Shetland Islands are not legally part of Scotland has been postponed until next month.

Stuart Hill, 65, planned to argue that the islands were only passed from Denmark to the Scots crown in the 15th-century as security for a debt.

Mr Hill is the defender in a civil action but will argue that Scots law has no jurisdiction over him.

He believes Shetland was only on long-term loan to Scotland.

Mr Hill, originally from Essex, has lived in Shetland since his boat capsized in 2001 while he was trying to circumnavigate the British Isles, earning him the nickname Captain Calamity.

He said his research had led him to the "inescapable conclusion" that at no point in Shetland's history did the Crown acquire ownership of the islands.

Mr Hill intends to argue that when he appears as the defender in a civil action being brought by a local accountancy firm.

He will claim that the court - indeed the whole of Scots law - has no jurisdiction over him.

Mr Hill wants to redefine Shetland's relationships with Scotland, the UK, and the European Union.

Historians have traditionally accepted that Scotland did legally annex the islands, along with Orkney.