Tycoon sues millionaire brother in a bitter feud... over a car number plate
Name-calling and threats as sibling rivalry goes to court
THEY are both wealthy businessmen who can afford the finer things in life.
But now brothers Ian and David Suttie are embroiled in a sibling feud over a number plate and alleged abusive emails in which one calls the other a ‘scoundrel’.
Super-rich Ian sent angry messages to sibling David as their relationship turned sour, a court heard this week.
And as the family feud threatened to spill over into their social circle at curling and golf clubs in Aberdeen, they also squabbled over how to divide up joint ownership of the vehicle registration 21S.
Former banker David, 64, is suing his older brother for £20,000 for defamation and also seeking an anti-harassment order.
Ian – who amassed a personal fortune of £450million before the oil price crash – is contesting the action.
The Sutties’ legal teams this week faced each other at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, which will hand down a judgment next year.
In 2014, Ian was ranked the second richest person in Scotland thanks to his North Sea investments and property portfolio.
The 73-year-old began his career as an accountant but sold his oilfield services company Orwell Group to the US giant Weatherford International in 2001 for $250million (£275million in today’s money).
His firm First Oil crashed into administration with bank debts of £149million in 2016 due to the collapse of the oil price – though he remains an active entrepreneur.
The brothers were in business together for more than 30 years and remain near-neighbours on a plush exclusive estate in Cults, near Aberdeen.
They have not been on good terms for more than eight years, according to court papers. In February, David won a £700,000 out-of-court settlement against Ian to square off a business disagreement.
As part of that arrangement, they agreed to share the number plate 21S, with each taking a three-year turn as the registered owner. However, David would not sign it over until the cash was paid by Ian, which was eventually handed in a day after the deadline expired on March 8.
In the meantime, the tycoon sent two emails on February 23 and March 7, the first of which David claims defamed him as ‘disgusting’ and ‘deceitful’. Ian insists, though, that he was characterising his brother’s recent conduct about which he was ‘justly outraged’.
The second alleged that David had ‘plundered money’ and was a ‘scoundrel’, with Ian adding that he ‘looked forward to seeing [him] at the ice rink and Deeside [Golf Club]’ and that the number plate should handed over by the end of the week.
David claims that the messages amounted to threats and harassment though Ian states that the ‘parties were emotional’ and he had indulged in ‘mere abuse’ that should not have been taken literally or as menacing. He denies any harrassment. Court papers show that, on March 10, David returned to his car after an evening at a curling club in Aberdeen to find a note stuck to his windscreen with the words ‘21S NOW’.
Ian admits keeping the message in his car in case he saw his brother’s vehicle. David’s lawyer Jamie Dawson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court this week that it was not in question that the emails were sent but that a sheriff would have to decide whether or not they were defamatory. A hearing was set for February. It is unclear who currently possesses the number plate, which is believed to be worth thousands of pounds.
In 2005, Ian Suttie was cleared of tax fraud after he told a court he never looked at his bank balance and did not realise he had racked up interest of £180,000, of which £21,000 was owed to the Treasury.
‘Plundered money and a scoundrel’