Sunday Mail Whip Ass On Lothian Sauna Story

A member of the judiciary, spanking, whipping, hookers and saunas. What more could a red blooded tabloid newspaper want for their splash story?
Except a resignation or "retirement" and that eventually was the icing or whipped cream on the cake for the Sunday Mail's great weekend tale on Sheriff Andrew Lothian.
Lothian has been loathed for years by many who appeared before him at Edinburgh Sheriff Court - and that's just the solicitors - so there were few tears shed when the story began seeping out that he had allegedly been frequenting an Edinburgh sauna (brothel to you and me) and paying for spanking sessions.
I've never worked for a Sunday paper as a staffer so I've never really had to deal with the nerve wracking countdown to a Saturday deadline that Sunday newspaper staff have to endure each week, hoping their exclusives remain intact and rivals don't beat them to the punch.
It was always going to be difficult to keep a lid on a story about an errant judge and an alleged video or phone clip which had him, er banged to rights, and up until Saturday at about 2pm it seemed like Sunday Mail news editor Brendan McGinty and his team had pulled it off.
I'd got the call on Thursday from Brendan asking for help on what seemed a belter of a tale. Sheriff Lothian was no stranger to me - I had met one of his ex-wives, Harriet, some years ago over coffee in the Roxburghe Hotel in Edinburgh when she made claims about certain events which even I found too hard to believe. But my old mate Marcello Mega had more perseverance and patience, taking up the baton in highlighting the lawman's 'colourful' private life and turning Lothian in to something of a cottage industry in the same way he has done successfully with tales of my old adversary Mad Dog McCafferty.
Long story short - the Sunday Mail attack dogs covered all the bases, had snatch pics of the hooker in the bag and the story was shaping up fine.
But over post dinner drinks at Fusion (Aberdeen's finest new restaurant)on Friday the text messages I received seemed to indicate they were not over the finishing line and my impression was there was more work needed to nail the story.
Saturday morning and a text told me the splash was back on. The Scottish Courts Service had confirmed Lothian was "retiring" with immediate effect. But when I spoke to Brendan he seemed a bit underwhelmed about it all and perhaps by then he knew the pack were not far behind him.
Just after 2pm I got a phone call from a Sunday broadsheet, followed by a tabloid, both with bits and pieces of the story and asking for assistance but I politely declined due to the fact it wasn't my tale to give. Didn't hear from the Sunday Herald, who incidentally got the name of the sauna wrong in their piece.
A quick scan of the Sunday papers and while the News of the Screws had made a fair effort on the Lothian story there was no doubt the Sunday Mail had the full package and was streets ahead on a scandal which was later picked up by the BBC, Press Association and Daily Telegraph among others.
Ps. Never one to disappoint, Cello popped up in today's Scottish Sun with an exclusive interview with Lothian's ex wife Harriet and her ordeal at the hands of the sleazy sheriff. Nice one my Sun.