When asked on Twitter four years ago how Rangers were granted a licence to play European football in season 2011-12 when they were overdue with HMRC, SFA chief executive, Stewart Regan, replied, “If someone sends you a bill you disagree with then you do not accept it was overdue”.
Any business is allowed to dispute a tax demand, but former Rangers director, Donald McIntyre’s evidence at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday was clear, Rangers had accepted liability for unpaid PAYE and National Insurance claims in connection with the Wee Tax Case (DOS) in 2010.
If, as Regan suggests, Rangers misrepresented this fact to the SFA Licencing Committee in their March 2011 application, the Association now have action to consider.
If you have been around this story for the best part of the last decade you will recall a number of us writing on the perilous state of Rangers finances while the club was under the control of Sir David Murray. This was robustly disputed by the club at the time, but in his evidence McIntyre noted that, under Murray, the club appointed an insolvency expert to ensure they were not trading illegally.
Just one month before the sale of the club to Craig Whyte in May 2011, in an email produced by Craig Whyte’s counsel, Donald Findlay, Mr Mike McGill of Murray Holdings, advised that “it would appear forecasts for club have deteriorated, we will breach bank facility”.
Asked by Findlay if “HMRC were coming for the club and were after blood”, McIntyre said “Yes.” The directors of Oldco Rangers omitted this sentiment from their public comments at the time.
Rangers were a football club running a perilous financial strategy from the 1990s until liquidation was eventually confirmed in 2012. They established a mindset, not only in their own support, but in parts of ours too, that spending money you couldn’t afford on casino football was the only acceptable way clubs should behave.
You still hear the echoes of those times, from Willie Henderson’s request that Newco spend £50m, to comments a lot closer to home when Celtic fail to win a football game.
Please remember that while it is OK to report evidence discussed at court, you should not comment on matters pertaining to the charges against Craig Whyte.
T-SHIRT STOCK UPDATE: Remaining stock as follows….Small 2 left, Medium 3 left, Large ONLY 1 left, XL 11 left and XXL 8 left. There won’t be a re-print so order now if you want the t-shirt (£14.99) or t-shirt and book (£19.67) at cqnbookstore.com
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Couldn’t the Juror not just have logged into James Doleman twitter
BRT & H
Thanks for that.The Daily Mail and The Daily Record? Hmmm…. It`s not as if we are talking of the Morning Star / Socialist Worker here !
A juror ill leads to a trial adjournment? Don`t they have a Sub`s Bench as well as the real one?
Seriously, though, twelve people in court for, potentially, twelve weeks, are there no provisions for such a situation?
JJ
O lente, lente currite, noctis equi!
HOT SMOKED on 27TH APRIL 2017 10:18 AM
Fifteen.
I think trials can go ahead with fewer if someone drops out, but there’s no subs bench.
First juror nobbled…
ALMORE and JAMESGANG
I swapped a few emails with Livibhoy just around the time he stopped posting.
He was starting up a new business and would likely not be posting due to work commitments.
So, sounds as if he is still busy with his work!
Good for him and hope he is well too!
ernie
Thanks for that information. After your post, I discovered this:
” They have a jury of 15 in case jurors drop out, such as from illness. At least 12 are needed to continue.”
JJ
This ‘French connection’ with the HMRC raids at West Ham and Newcastle is interesting – didn’t Deidco have a few dalliances in the French transfer market?
I know that dodgy dealings with Boumsong are already well aired – but weren’t there one or two others brought in?
Boli? Guivarch?
Apparently the juror has a hangover after last night’s youth cup win over the deady cubs
Lol at/with cqn
What yeez aw gonnae dae noo? Lol
Gives us another day to look back on yesterdays answers
;-)
HH
So what happens now?
Do they all pile over to The Whistlin Kirk for a few pints and a roll and sausage?
I was called to Glasgow Sheriff Court a few years back and ended up on a jury for a case that was almost time barred but High Court had no room to accommodate. So this was basically a High Court case that was being heard in the Sheriff Court but as it was heard in the Sheriff Court it could only be tried within Sheriff Court limitations with regard sentence. There were 3 accused gentleman and the trial lasted 3 and a half weeks. All very interesting apart from the intimidation of jurors as we entered and left court. The thing I found most interesting was the bias of the jurors and their refusal to move based on the evidence from their pre existing views and opinions relating to their life experience and/or prejudice. This was a drug case.
Anyway, during the course of the trial we lost 3 jurors, one to Illness and 2 to knowing or being acquainted with witnesses who took the stand during the course of the case.
These jurors were not replaced and the case continued to completion.
I fail to understand why on this case the proceeding have been postponed due to one juror falling ill?!
MWD
SDM
Just when I thought I was out…they dragged me back in !
ERNIE LYNCH on 27TH APRIL 2017 10:18 AM
O lente, lente currite, noctis equi!
Certainly not “Tempus fugit”!
Is it the case that a one-off illness has to be accommodated (i.e. suspension of the case) but if it persists he/she has to be dismissed and the case proceeds? Can’t have someone missing for one day in an active case as he/she would miss potentially crucial evidence.
In answer to my own question, a quick Google reveals that the following French players signed for Deidco…
Olivier Bernard, Basile Boli, Jérôme Bonnissel, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Lionel Charbonnier, Jérémy Clément, Jean-Claude Darcheville, Sébastien Faure, Fabrice Fernandes
Stéphane Guivarc’h, Salim Kerkar, Lionel Letizi, José Pierre-Fanfan, Antoine Ponroy, Julien Rodriguez, Jérôme Rothen, William Stanger, and Grégory Vignal
Interesting that it is all within a particular narrow time window – maybe we are going to need a bigger court?
Jury on the whyte case are lucky, there is currently a case that has been on going at the high court for almost 20 months!!!!!!
https://twitter.com/gladamatim/status/857219300683370496
Jury Duty .
Easily the worst thing I ever did . A Glasgow murder trial.. .Some of my fellow jurors simply should not have been allowed anywhere near such an important thing …
So jurors can be kicked out for knowing a witness but the defence consul who was personally invoved with the club or company and who must know some witnesses from the past is allowed!?!?
Seems a bit strange to me.
Timmy_7noted
So it stated long before Lente last year and is still going after Lente this year?
Time I was off !!
Cheerio for now,
JJ
SOT, totally agree I’ve done four in total, apart from the most recent I would have hated to be the accused in any of those cases, generally I find most people a bit thick. They also do not actually listen to the evidence and want to discuss issues that were not raised in evidence, very, very worrying.
The squandering of public money by the Justice system, illustrated by today’s adjournment is difficult to defend (see what I did there?), especially in the current climate of austerity.
Spending on health, education, social care, housing and almost every branch of the public sector has been under attack for almost ten years now, but a court case heard in the High Court, is adjourned for a day due to the illness of one juror.
Does anybody know the cost to the public purse of one day’s High Court proceedings?
Disgraceful.
Juror in hospital , as his sides split yesterday..
One other thing I’ve learned over the years, anyone who is extremely keen and overly enthusiastic to be the jury spokesman should immediately be barred from taking part in a jury. They are normally exhibitionist loonies.
TIMMY7NOTED .
It freaked me out . I was depressed for months afterwards . . Bias , prejudice, discrimination , jaw dropping stupidity , A Jehova Witness who spoke with God re the case , a woman who announced -He’s guilty -what’s to discuss -hurry up -I’m going out tonight . People who paid no attention , people who couldn’t be bothered. . People who might as well have been deciding re the life of a cockroach.. Vile -deeply disturbing / distressing .
For anyone interested we received confirmation from the Lisbon Stadium staff that there will be NO access to the stadium after the 25th, not good for us since we don’t arrive till the evening of the 25th :-(
So for anyone not available to visit on the 25th I think you’ll be struggling to get access. It won’t stop us going but takes the shine off a little.
Bosham 1.40 Beverley
All is Good Market Rasen 4.35
Peculiar places 8.00 Market Rasen
3 horses I was given for today
SOT
We’ve had very similar experiences, some of them could not even understand the R+R of the court staff!!
Even after a week of evidence.
I reckon anyone with a modicum of intelligence could sway a jury if they wanted.
TIMMY7NOTED.
Everything about it was awful— most of the jury , the Prosecution / The Defence , the Police , some of the witnesses.. A pathetic farce which resulted in a life sentence for someone. It gave me the heeby geebies re humanity for a long time afterwards.
My first stint at jury duty was in 79. In the dock was the chef from a well known Southside curry house. Anyway a fight started in the restaurant when two geezers tried to do a runner but got caught by a waiter, who they duly set about. The battle spilled into the kitchen just like in a cowboy picture, but things really heated up when the said chef delivered a pot of hot curry sauce over one of the guys heads, scalding him in the process. After a hospital visit to the nearby Victoria they had the brass neck to call the cops.
While events were being read out, the whole jury was in stitches. It ended up like a comedy sketch, with the judge screaming ‘order order’. Comedy gold, just like the Stupid FC case.
Daily Radar already suggesting Pedro has lost sections of the dressing room. There is talk of olive branches. It will not end well.
Seems that Rangers players are a tad annoyed that they will only get nine days off for a summer break.
That’s perfectly understandable. Apart from the fact that everyone deserves some down time,they’re only paid for 48 weeks a year!
Marrakesh – there weren’t many curry houses around the southside in ’79.
it wasn’t the Moti Mahal was it? (Now called the Alishan).
The ‘real rangers men’ were passed up for the job AND the no2 and no3 positions. You sense the wheels are already in motion to undermine Pedro. Their pals in the SMSM seem to be on message.
HUNDERBIRDS ARE GONE on 27TH APRIL 2017 10:53 AM
The squandering of public money by the Justice system, illustrated by today’s adjournment is difficult to defend (see what I did there?), especially in the current climate of austerity.
—-
Do you have an alternative?
Wtf is going on here?
Trial by jury in Scotland is used in serious criminal cases and, less commonly, in civil cases. There are some similarities with the jury system in England and Wales but also some important differences.
In Scotland, there has never been a requirement for verdicts in a trial by jury to be unanimous; they are reached by simple majority. (Some people were executed on majority verdicts in Scotland, such as Susan Newell, who had one juror dissenting.)
Much of the law covering criminal cases is contained in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. They have a jury of 15 in case jurors drop out, such as from illness. At least 12 are needed to continue. At least 8 jurors are for a guilty verdict even if the total number of jurors drops to below 15.
It is not possible to have a hung jury; if there is not sufficient support for any verdict it is treated as a verdict of not guilty. The jury has a choice of three verdicts: guilty (a conviction), not guilty (acquittal) and not proven (also acquittal).
Civil cases have a jury of 12, with a minimum of 10 needed for the trial to continue. It is possible to have a hung jury if it is still tied after at least three hours deliberation.
The rules of eligibility for jury service are broadly similar to England, but some people with legal experience are excluded.
TIMGREEN
No I do not. However I think it is a debate and discussion that we, as a society, need to have. The costs for today’s non-event will no doubt run into tens of thousands of pounds.
Off the top of my head, I would offer a suggestion that at least in cases such as this (Corporate, non violent), the machinery of law could adequately function for one day, with one juror absent, without adversely affecting the justice of the case.
HH