Hefty penalty for Angus hotel boss

PROSECUTORS have launched a £500,000 confiscation bid against a crooked Angus hotel boss.

Carnoustie businessman Douglas Piggot was jailed last year after admitting his role in his son’s drugdealing business.

The cannabis and cocaine operation was uncovered by cops when they raided the family-run Dalhousie Hotel in March 2020.

Investigators also uncovered a variety of fake designer items, including bogus versions of Nike, Adidas, Apple and Jimmy Choo.

He now faces Proceeds of Crime action to claw back some of his illgotten gains.

The 67-year-old returned to Perth Sheriff Court for a confiscation hearing.

Solicitor David Duncan, defending, said his client had been unable to access paperwork vital to the case while in prison.

“The information required is on his home computer,” he said.

“It was hoped that Mr Piggot would be released in January.

“But unfortunately he didn’t get out until March 13, so he has only started going through his accounts.”

Sheriff Jennifer Bain KC adjourned the case for seven weeks to give Piggot a chance to sift through his documents.

Piggot was jailed for 42 weeks in October after admitting his part in a £20,000 drug dealing operation run by his 29-yearold son Bracken.

His lawyers argued that he was effectively prosecuted for not reporting his son to the police.

Perth Sheriff Court heard Piggot Sr had knowingly allowed his BMW to be used to sell packages of class A and B substances.

During the police raid around £16,000 cash was seized from the hotel safe.

Weeks before he was jailed, Piggot was sentenced to 150 hours’ unpaid work for stashing tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of counterfeit goods at the High Street establishment.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard that the bogus items were being held “as collateral to ensure loans he gave to people were repaid.”

Prosecutors said that if the goods were sold as real, they could fetch as much as £40,000.

Speaking in mitigation at the sentencing hearing in October, Mr Duncan said: “Mr Piggot had been trading at the hotel for a number of years, initially quite successfully.

“But towards the time of Covid, the business began to suffer.

“He tried to maintain a clientele by making financial arrangements for loans which, in hindsight, perhaps wasn’t the most appropriate thing to do.”

Sheriff William Wood interjected: “It’s also illegal.”

Son Bracken, who is a DJ and events promoter, admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of drugs at the hotel and was jailed for 14 months in 2021.

His father’s confiscation hearing was continued until May 9.

Douglas Piggot