Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Carillion finance boss ‘ditched’ £800k in shares, say MPS
Pampered pet sheep dislikes grass and going outdoors
A FORMER Carillion boss “dumped” shares worth nearly £800,000 in the months running up to the firm’s collapse, MPS reveal today.
Ex-financial director Richard Adam got rid of the last of his stake in the outsourcing giant “at the first possible moment”, according to the Commons Work and Pensions Committee.
Mr Adam retired on December 31, 2016 and on March 1, 2017 sold his entire existing shareholding for £534,000. Then on May 8 he flogged long-term incentive plan awards for £242,000. In total, he sold shares – which are now worthless – for £776,000.
Committee chairman Frank Field said: “Mr Adam presided over Carillion’s finances for a decade. He, more than anyone else, ought to know the merits of Carillion shares.
“His assessment? Dumping his shares because he is – with his own money at least – ‘risk averse’. What conclusions are we to draw?”
Fresh information was published following MEET muddled Marley, the sheep that thinks he’s a dog and doesn’t like grass.
He came indoors when he was ill and now the woollyheaded pet won’t leave.
The orphan has his own dog basket in front of the stove and eats from bowls, like the family’s labrador Jess, which it has outgrown.
The six-month-old does go for family walks on a lead but doesn’t like the wind or rain.
Marley got his hooves under the table as a little lamb after needing constant care for a joint illness.
A farmer had appealed on social media for a home for the Swiss-breed Valais blacknose valley sheep.
GRASS
Owner Ali Vaughan, 34, had moved into a farmhouse with three acres of land in Rickerby, Cumbria, and thought Marley would fit in well.
The mum-of-two, who runs upcycling firm Mucky Ducky, believed the sheep would be ideal for keeping the grass short. Ali said: “Little did I know it’d be a while before he chomped his first bit of grass.”
She said: “Jess immediately took to her and would lie at the side of her at night.”
Marley was nursed back to health but soon developed a dislike of the outdoors.
In a bid to help him get over his identity crisis, his family have got another sheep, a brown ryeland called Bear. new letters to the Work and Pensions and Business Select Committees, which are running a joint inquiry into the company’s demise.
Giving evidence to MPS earlier this month, Mr Adam said he believed the company was “healthy” during his tenure and that his shares were disposed of “in accordance with the procedures put in place for everybody.”
MPS also revealed Mr Adam’s successor Zafar Khan said he had been surprised the board was “spooked” to hear of the firm’s shaky finances.