Lawyer's statement and the ex-tabloid editor

STEVEN Purcell admitted to friends privately last week that he was coming under greater scrutiny and was feeling the pressure. But until Friday lunchtime, nobody thought he would soon be walking away from a job he loved.

A statement yesterday said it was simply that the pressures of work had become too much.

On Thursday evening, Mr Purcell attended a glitzy Labour Party fundraiser at Glasgow's Hilton Hotel, where he was apparently in good spirits.

On Friday morning, he met a group of Labour MSPs in his office. The meeting was, say those who attended, perfectly convivial.

The first sign that things were going wrong came on Friday afternoon when he cancelled an appearance at an event with restaurateur Charan Gill.

Mr Purcell's family and closest aides at Glasgow City Council visited him at his home on Saturday and are understood to have advised him to issue a personal statement laying out all the facts behind his departure immediately. The council leader, however, turned to his long-time lawyer, Peter Watson, of Glasgow firm Levy & McRae.

Yesterday, council officials were only able only to repeat the line that Mr Purcell had quit because of stress. They revealed Mr Purcell's legal team had called officials at the council over the weekend to request they refrain from discussing the state of Purcell's health with anyone.

Meanwhile, sources insisted Mr Purcell's departure had not been caused by any scandals set to appear in the press.

All calls concerning Mr Purcell's case were directed to Jack Irvine, former Scottish Sun editor and now head of PR firm Media House. In a statement issued by Media House, Mr Watson stated the pressures of work had got too much for Mr Purcell and he had folded under it.

The explanation failed to prevent fevered speculation about Mr Purcell's lifestyle spreading across Scotland's political village. Mr Watson simply said: "His family would like him to be left in peace to recover his health."