Police called after ‘The Sovereign Nation of Shetland’ stages tourist centre takeover

An 81-year-old man staged an attempted takeover of the Lerwick tourist centre on behalf of the “The Sovereign Nation of Shetland”.

Well known feather-ruffler Stuart Hill carried out the audacious attack with a band of followers whom he had been plotting with online.

Mr Hill entered the Market Cross building on 30th July, claiming he and his supporters were its new owners.

VisitScotland  leases the building from Shetland Islands Council. But the council put it up for sale in July after VisitScotland announced it was closing all of its iCentres across the country.

It is believed that Mr Hill and his followers were concerned by the closure and sought to take matters into their own hands.

They were reportedly wearing name badges when they entered the iCentre and attempted to fix a sign to the window, announcing their takeover.

The group had already set up a “point of sale system” which Mr Hill said would enable them to “start taking money as soon as we walk in”.

A press conference had been planned for the following day.

After police attended, however, Mr Hill and his fellow conspirators left the building.

But according to their online posts – which have been seen by The Shetland Times – the group continued surveillance operations on the building.

They have also been plotting another takeover attempt.

Referring to the “dress rehearsal” in July, Mr Hill said that while the group had the “element of surprise” they had been “too nice” and “wasted time talking”.

Next time, Mr Hill suggested they all enter the building on a quiet Sunday before barricading themselves in by fixing a bar to the front door and changing the locks.

During the messages, Mr Hill, who lives in Cunningsburgh, frequently talks about his latest “brainstorms” and advises those he is communicating with to use special codewords when discussing matters in the open.

He claims some of his comments may just be “diversionary” – and tells his three female co-conspirators that: “I love you all.”

The messages appear on a website that appears to be related to sail ships.

As an advocate for “udal law”, Mr Hill has frequently argued to various authorities that Shetland is not part of Scotland or the UK and therefore is not subject to its laws.

His attempts to persuade legal professionals that the judiciary is a “fictional entity” have so far failed to gain traction.

In his latest messages, Mr Hill claims to have served a “statutory demand” on the council’s legal chief Jan Riise.

A VisitScotland spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an incident took place at Lerwick iCentre on 30th July, which was swiftly dealt with by police.”

Mr Hill has been approached for comment.