Gers sale exec sues top cop for £9m
Ex-Gers administrator claims ‘wrongful’ arrest over probe
A FORMER Rangers administrator is suing Scotland’s chief constable and the nation’s most senior prosecutor for £9million.
David Whitehouse, 51, who was held by cops during a probe into the club, is seeking the sum from Police Scotland boss Philip Gormley and
Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC. Whitehouse and his colleague Paul Clark were charged by police investigating businessman Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club in 2011.
Charges against the two men were later dropped after a court hearing in June last year.
But Whitehouse claims that his detention by police officers who were probing Whyte’s takeover of the Glasgow side was “wrongful”.
Lawyers acting for the insolvency practitioner claim their client was “unlawfully detained” by detectives in November 2014.
They also claim that throughout his detention, there was no reasonable grounds to suspect Whitehouse had broken the law.
Whitehouse claims that police obtained evidence without following proper legal procedure.
The lawyers also claim prosecutors issued an indictment against him without any “evidential basis.”
Whitehouse claims the actions of police and prosecutors resulted in him suffering damage to his reputation as a first-class financial professional.
The businessman, of Cheshire, claims his arrest caused him to suffer a £1.75million loss of his earnings.
Whitehouse says that between 2009 and 2014, his gross earnings averaged £988,000 a year. He says that he only made £408,400 in 2015 and £401,733 last year.
His lawyers say he lost earnings because he lost his licence to operate as an insolvency practitioner and he’d lost out on bonuses.
Whitehouse also claims his arrest caused knock-on effects in other parts of his life.
He says that while in police custody in November 14, 2014, a senior antiterrorist police officer told him his life and home were at risk.
Whitehouse says he was then declined renewal on home insurance.
On Wednesday, lawyers acting for him appeared during at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
It emerged during proceedings that Clark is also suing the Chief Constable and Lord Advocate.
Judge Lord Arthurson arranged for a four-day hearing into the legal issues surrounding the case to take place at a yet to be arranged date.
Lawyers are examining whether the two actions become a single case.
The case has emerged from the circumstances surrounding Whyte’s takeover of Rangers in 2011.
Whitehouse and Clark worked for Duff & Phelps. They were appointed administrators of the club in February 2012. Four months later, the firm’s business and assets were sold to a consortium led by Charles Green for £5.5million.
Police launched a probe into the circumstances of the takeover.
They were cleared of any wrongdoing months before Whyte was prosecuted for fraud in the High Court. Whyte was cleared of any wrongdoing by a jury in 2017.
Whitehouse is also suing Liam Murphy, the procurator fiscal for specialist case work.
A legal document detailing Whitehouse’s case states: “He lost income, in particular his entitlement to bonus payments and future earnings. His reputation was severely damaged.
“While in custody on November 14 2014, he was spoken to by a senior police officer who informed him he and his home were at risk.
“His insurers declined to renew his insurance. Arrangements required to be made for private security.”
Whitehouse also says his human rights were breached as a result of the actions of the police and prosecutors.
The Chief Constable and the Lord Advocate claim police and prosecutors acted in accordance with correct legal procedure.
They claim that Whitehouse’s human rights weren’t breached.
The Chief Constable and Lord Advocate also claim Whitehouse hasn’t suffered any loss or injury as a consequence of the actions taken by the police and prosecutors.
They also believe the case should be dismissed because the Lord Advocate is exempt from civil action from people who were the subject of a legal investigation.
The action will next call before the court sometime in the near future.
Police informed him he was at risk WHITEHOUSE DOCUMENT