Rangers fraud case ruling branded shocking after £9million judge decision
A judge’s decision to throw out a £9million damages claim in the Rangers fraud inquiry has been branded “shocking” by a recipient who did get compensated.
David Grier has had his appeal thrown out after it was found that his arrest was not “malicious” but did involve “incompetence, poor judgment, and a lack of professionalism” from Police Scotland, according to The Times.
The 61-year-old, a consultant at Duff & Phelps, was arrested alongside colleagues David Whitehouse and Paul Clark as part of a fraud investigation into the 2012 collapse of the club.
The latter pair have previously received a settlement of £24million, along with an apology from lord advocate at the time, James Wolffe QC.
However, Grier’s claim was denied, although he claims that he was not presented with crucial evidence from the Crown Office until after his compensation bid ended.
Whitehouse called the latest development “shocking” and said of the decision to deny Grier the award: “The way that David Grier has been treated is nothing short of scandalous.
“I hope and expect this will not be the end of this.”
According to The Times, the public inquiry has so far cost the tax payer over £50million in compensation payments to individuals arrested as part of the botched investigation.
Mess
The whole affair has proven to be unedifying for pretty much everyone involved on all sides, and that doesn’t look to be any different after the most recent ruling.
Rangers as a football club are a long way past the dark days a decade ago that sparked the ongoing recriminations, but some of those involved clearly aren’t.
Considering the many millions already paid out in compensation it is clear that there was a lot wrong with how the authorities went about the investigation, but while Grier was arrested along with Whitehouse and Clark he hasn’t subsequently got a similar pay out.
Those in charge at Ibrox would no doubt argue that complaints around spending in the past year have to take into account the ongoing issues arising from the financial mess they have had to climb out of.
The back and forth over how events were conducted the best part of a decade ago is ongoing and for however bad things have been on the pitch in recent months, this is perhaps a reminder of just how much worse they have been in recent memory.
In other Rangers news, the issues around Celtic derbies has been held up as a warning to an increasingly heated English rivalry.