A senior detective told a witness that the findings of a BBC documentary formed the “whole basis” of an ill-fated fraud investigation into Rangers FC, a court has been told.
Philip Duffy, 54, a special adviser with the financial company Duff & Phelps, which assisted when the Ibrox club fell into administration, said that he had been giving a witness statement when Detective Chief Inspector Jim Robertson made the comment.
He also claimed that Robertson chanted what sounded like a Rangers song during another police interview.
Duffy was giving evidence on the third day of a £7 million compensation claim against police and prosecutors brought by David Grier, a business consultant who was arrested in November 2014 as he was working with Rangers but later acquitted of all charges.
Grier previously claimed that his arrest had been “career ending” as police investigated alleged criminal activity during Craig Whyte’s takeover of Rangers in 2011.
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The Court of Session was told that Grier launched defamation proceedings against the BBC for its documentary The Men Who Sold the Jerseys, which is described as revealing “the scandal which brought Rangers FC to its knees”.
Duffy’s witness statement, which was read aloud to the court, said: “At the end, I remember [Robertson] remarked the whole basis for him arresting . . . the Duff & Phelps people was based upon the Panorama programme.
“I thought this was strange behaviour. I thought it was strange that a criminal arrest should proceed on the basis of a television programme, especially Panorama which has some history in reporting matters incorrectly or sensationally.”
Duffy told the court that he thought Robertson chanted what appeared to be a Rangers song during his third interview at a police station in London which lasted six hours. “It sounded like a football song. I think the words ‘the Big House’ was mentioned,” he said. “I didn’t realise what it was at the time. It just sounded like a football chant.
“I vaguely remember something about ‘the Big House’ and I didn’t know what that meant until I spoke to somebody and they said Rangers fans refer to Ibrox as ‘the Big House’. It was just bizarre.”
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Paul Smith, 54, was also interviewed as a witness by Robertson in November 2015. Smith, a managing director for Duff & Phelps, said Robertson was “pretty aggressive”.
“He said ‘We’ve seen you a number of times. I need you to tell me the truth. I need for you to tell me about your involvement in the matter and if you don’t you and your mates are going to prison for the next ten years.’”
Smith said he had been “100 per cent” truthful in his dealings with the police. He added: “It came as an absolute surprise and a complete shock to me.”
He said his solicitor Michael Rainford was alarmed. “There was a threat that they would come at six o’clock in the morning and arrest me,” he said.
Rainford told the court that Robertson was “extremely aggressive” and that he told his client that he didn’t believe anything he had said on previous occasions to the police.
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Grier was one of a number of men arrested during the investigation into Rangers’ financial position during the past decade and the sale of the club to Whyte. Prosecutors claimed that he participated in a fraud with the businessman, claiming that Whyte broke the law by using cash from a firm called Ticketus to acquire the finance to buy Rangers FC. Whyte was also acquitted.
Ticketus had agreed to pay Rangers about £26.7 million in return for the future sale of season tickets at the club.
In February Lord Tyre concluded that prosecutors had no “probable cause” to prosecute Grier. However, the judge said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that prosecutors brought the case against Grier maliciously. The hearing continues.
