A juror has been jailed for six years after being found guilty of accepting a bribe in the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.

Catherine Leahy, 62, served on a jury in a drug trafficking and money laundering trial which returned a not proven verdict in April 2016 following three days of deliberation at the High Court in Glasgow.

A police investigation was launched after information was passed to Crown Office staff regarding an alleged bribe to a juror.

Police then used covert audio surveillance to capture recordings of Leahy talking with a family member at her Glasgow home about the allegations against her.

Her trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard Leahy had nearly £3,000 paid in four instalments into her bank account between April and June 2016, the Crown Office said.

Prosecutors linked the bank payments to the charge against Leahy.

At the High Court in Glasgow last month, Leahy was found guilty of agreeing to receive money for not properly carrying out her role as a juror.

She is the first juror to be prosecuted under the Bribery Act 2010.

Leahy was sentenced to six years in jail at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday, the Crown Office said.

Liam Murphy, procurator fiscal for Specialist Casework, said: “The role of the jury sits at the heart of our criminal justice system and is fundamental to our rule of law.

“This is the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland which shows that cases of jury interference are exceptionally rare.

“Leahy took advantage of a position of public responsibility for financial gain without any regard to the consequences.

“The prosecution against Leahy was built on a thorough and complex investigation by Police Scotland using covert surveillance to uncover the true nature of the offence.”

Prosecutors are now giving further consideration to the circumstances of the original trial in which Leahy served as a juror.

The Crown can ask the court for authority to bring a fresh prosecution in cases where a person was previously acquitted in certain circumstances, including when an offence against the course of justice in the original trial is considered to have been committed. </s> Catherine Leahy found guilty of interfering in drugs trial in first case of its kind in Scotland

A juror who accepted a bribe has been jailed in the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland.



Catherine Leahy served on a jury in a drug trafficking and money laundering trial at the high court in Glasgow, which returned a not proven verdict in April 2016 after three days of deliberation.

A police investigation was launched after information was passed to the Crown Office about an alleged bribe to a juror. Audio surveillance was used to capture recordings of Leahy talking to a family member at her home in Glasgow about the allegations against her.

At her trial at the high court in Glasgow, the Crown Office said Leahy had received nearly £3,000, paid in four instalments into her bank account, between April and June 2016. Prosecutors linked the payments to the charge against Leahy, which was described as “a serious breach of public duty”.

Last month, she was found guilty of agreeing to receive money for not properly carrying out her role as a juror.

On Thursday, at the high court in Edinburgh, Leahy, 62, was sentenced to six years in jail.

In his sentencing statement, released by the Scottish judiciary, Lord Turnbull said: “To agree to accept a bribe from, or on behalf of the accused whilst serving as a juror in a high court trial, involves conduct which reflects such a serious breach of the public duty that forms the cornerstone of justice in our society as to constitute conduct at the most serious end of that contemplated by the provisions of the Bribery Act.

“The nature and seriousness of the lengthy trial in which you served as a juror, and accepted the position of spokesperson, aggravates the offence even further. It is obvious that a very lengthy custodial sentence is merited by such conduct.”

Leahy is the first juror to be prosecuted under the Bribery Act 2010.

Turnbull said the maximum sentence for the offence was 10 years but he took into account mitigating factors, including her lengthy history of employment and the fact she had never previously offended.

Prosecutors are giving further consideration to the circumstances of the original trial in which Leahy served as a juror. The Crown can ask the court for authority to bring a fresh prosecution in cases where a person was previously acquitted in certain circumstances, including when an offence against the course of justice in the original trial is considered to have been committed.

Liam Murphy, procurator-fiscal for specialist casework, said: “The role of the jury sits at the heart of our criminal justice system and is fundamental to our rule of law. This is the first prosecution of its kind in Scotland, which shows that cases of jury interference are exceptionally rare.

“Leahy took advantage of a position of public responsibility for financial gain without any regard to the consequences.” </s> A mum who took a bribe while serving as a juror during a drugs trial has been jailed for six years.

Catherine Leahy, 62, trousered almost £3000 in payments while deliberating during proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow.

The ex-classroom assistant was caught after police received a tip-off that she had broken bribery laws.

Detectives decided to bug her home in the city’s Springboig and collected enough evidence to prove she had broken the law.

Leahy was the spokeswoman on a jury who acquitted Graham Clark, an alleged drug dealer, and others.

Prosecutors are considering whether to try Clark again.

Yesterday, Leahy’s lawyer Thomas Ross QC told the High Court in Edinburgh his client cared for her parents and husband before they died and added that prison would be “extremely difficult” for Leahy.

It is the first case of its type in Scottish legal history.

No jurors had previously been prosecuted in Scotland for corrupt behaviour.

Passing sentence, Lord Turnbull said: “To agree to accept a bribe from or on behalf of the accused while serving as a juror in that High Court trial involved conduct that is such a serious breach of the public duty that forms a cornerstone of our freedom.”

Last month, prosecutor Iain McSporran QC told the court that police discovered four payments of £300, £1000, £1200 and £330 were made to Leahy’s accounts between April 19 and June 2, 2016.

Leahy denied the accusations and claimed the money came from a cheque from a British Shipbuilders pension and a savings club.

The decision to bug her home was made after a meeting between the Lord Advocate and Scotland’s most senior judge, the Lord President.

She shared the property with her son Joseph, 22.

Jurors heard one conversation in which Joseph said: “Mum, it wasn’t just you that got bribed so that now when they come to you, you’re a step ahead.”

Leahy replied: “There is nothing that can link you with them.”

The trial of Clarke, his wife Lindsay and others ran from November 2015 to April 2016. All charges against Clarke were not proven, while his wife was convicted of mortgage fraud.

Lord Turnbull told Leahy that jail was the only sentence available to him.

He added: “Your evidence to this court in which you denied your actions was quite ridiculous.” </s> Alex Salmond charged with two attempted rapes and nine sexual assaults

Alex Salmond charged with two attempted rapes and nine sexual assaults

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been charged with two counts of attempted rape and multiple counts of sexual assault.

He faces charges more than 14 allegations, Scotland's prosecuting office said, including two attempted rapes, nine sexual assaults, two indecent assaults and one breach of the peace.

Mr Salmond said he was "innocent of any criminality whatsoever" as he appeared in court in Edinburgh after being arrested and charged by police.

He added: "The only thing I can say is I refute, absolutely, these allegations of criminality and i'll defend myself to the utmost in court.

"I've got great faith in the court system in Scotland... that is where I will state my case."

Police Scotland has been investigating sexual misconduct complaints from two women against the former Scottish National Party leader that date back to 2013 when he was first minister.

In an earlier statement, Police Scotland said: "We can confirm a 64 year-old man has been arrested and charged and a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal."

Mr Salmond also told reporters outside the Edinburgh Sheriff Court that he had attended a police station on Wednesday.

"I was released on condition that I came to the court today to face the charges against me - that I have now done," he said.

Mr Salmond won a case earlier this month against the Scottish government over the handling of its investigation into the misconduct complaints, which a court said was "procedurally unfair and... tainted with apparent bias".

The 64-year-old served two terms as SNP leader, totalling more than 20 years, and was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014. </s> FORMER Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has appeared in court charged with attempted rape and sexual assault.

FORMER Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has appeared in court charged with attempted rape and sexual assault.

Mr Salmond faced a total of 14 charges when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday.

He was charged with two counts of attempted rape, nine counts of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one breach of the peace.

After a brief hearing, which was held in private, he said: "Now that these proceedings are live it is even more important to respect the court and therefore the only thing I can say is I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court.

"I've got great faith in the court system in Scotland."

He made no plea during the hearing and was released on bail.

Mr Salmond was arrested on Wednesday after attending a police station in central Scotland.

From Linlithgow, West Lothian, was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014.

He resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018.

Mr Salmond guided the party to a narrow Scottish election win in 2007 and then led a minority government as he became Scotland's first SNP First Minister.

In the 2011 election, he led the party to an unprecedented victory with a majority win, meaning the SNP's manifesto pledge to hold an independence referendum could be delivered.

But the result of the 2014 referendum - a 55% to 45% vote to stay in the UK - led to him stepping down as first minister and SNP leader. </s> A convicted paedophile who was found guilty of murdering two nine-year-old girls in 1986 has been jailed for life.

Russell Bishop, 52, was tried for the second time over the deaths of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway when new evidence linked him to the crime after he was cleared of their murders in 1987.

The girls were sexually assaulted and strangled in a den in Wild Park, Brighton, more than three decades ago.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.

Bishop declined to attend the Old Bailey to hear his sentencing.

He was initially acquitted of the murders but tests revealed a "one-in-a-billion" DNA match from a sample taken from Karen's left forearm.

A Pinto sweatshirt which had been discarded on Bishop's route home was linked to him by DNA, while fibre, paint and ivy transfers placed it at the scene of the crime.

Their mothers described Bishop, who was aged 20 at the time, as an "evil monster" after 32 years of fighting for justice.

Speaking after the Old Bailey verdict, 31 years to the day Bishop was first acquitted, Karen's mother Michelle Hadaway said she was "relieved".

Although Bishop, a former roofer, was originally cleared of the "babes in the wood" murders, within three years he was sentenced to life for the kidnap, sexual assault and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl at Devil's Dyke on the South Downs.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, Bishop said he feared he would be blamed when he joined the search to find the girls on 10 October 1986.

He told jurors he had been wrongly arrested in connection to a bombing at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, and said he had been "sickened" when he first saw the victims' bodies in the woods after the girls had been found.

He had also tried to cast suspicion on Nicola's father Barrie.

A jury at the Old Bailey took just two-and-a-half-hours to convict Bishop.

Mr Justice Sweeney said: "I have no doubt that you were a predatory paedophile.

"The terror that each girl must have suffered in their final moments is unimaginable."

Sue Eissman, Nicola's mother, said: "I have lived with the pain, the loss and sheer hate towards him for what he had done for the last 32 years.

"Russell Bishop is a horrible, wicked man. No child is safe if he is allowed to be free."

Mr Fellows, Nicola's father, who had been accused of the murders, said: "Thirty-two years is a long time to be suspected of murdering your daughter. When they arrested and charged Russell Bishop I thought that would be the end and we would get some closure. It did not pan out like that.

"Since the trial began I have been through every feeling imaginable from hope to sheer dread.

"Words cannot describe how I feel about Russell Bishop and the effect it has had on people's lives." </s> A former Reading banking director branded a "parasite" has been jailed for 11 years and three months for his part in a multi-million pound scam.

Lynden Scourfield admitted corruption and money laundering charges for his part in the fraud which left small businesses bankrupt.

The 54-year-old, also known as Gerard, admitted one count of conspiracy to corrupt, four counts of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property in August last year.

He was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, February 2 alongside four other men and one woman.

The six-year investigation called Operation Hornet is believed to be the longest and most complex case Thames Valley Police has ever dealt with.

Victims lives were "destroyed by the greed of these parasites"

The trial began on September 12, 2016 and lasted more than four months.

Senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent Nick John, said: "The sentencing reflects the severity of the crimes and the misery they inflicted on their victims.

"Their victims were people who were trying to contribute to the economy, creating jobs and offering goods and services.

"They were normal people running small to medium sized businesses who needed support and instead had their livelihoods, and in many cases, their lives destroyed by the greed of these parasites."

Scourfield, of Whitton Avenue West in Greenford, offered to loan the companies money if they would use the extremely expensive services of some fraudulent consultants.

In exchange for bribes, Scourfield sent customers to consultancy firm Quayside Corporate Services, which was run by his co-defendants David Mills and his wife Alison, of Todenham, Moreton-in-Marsh.
• None David Mills, aged 60, was found guilty of corruption, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He was jailed for 15 years.
• None Alison Mills, 51, was found guilty of money laundering and was jailed for three and a half years.
• None Michael Bancroft, 73, of Ilmington, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire, was found guilty of corruption, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He was jailed for 10 years.
• None Lynden Scourfield was found guilty of corruption, fraudulent trading and money laundering. He was jailed for 11 years and three months.
• None Mark Dobson, aged 56, of Brayfield Terrace, London, was found guilty of corruption and money laundering. He was jailed for four and a half years.
• None John Cartwright, also known as Tony, aged 72, of Knott Lane, Hyde, Cheshire was found guilty of fraudulent trading and money laundering. He was jailed for three and a half years.

The convictions are the result of one of the largest fraud investigation of its kind in the UK.

Those involved created a network of associations where businesses were exploited by their bank managers who directed them to employ the services of expensive external consultants in return for bank loans.

Det Supt John said: "Instead of offering advice and support these consultants including David Mills and Michael Bancroft would then take millions out of these companies by various means to fund lavish lifestyles.

"These consultants would also offer kickbacks and gifts to the bankers, including Lynden Scourfield, as a reward for recommending them and for continuing to lend the bank’s money to these struggling companies.

"I am pleased for the victims, and there are many affected by the criminal beahviour of this gang, that they have seen these people finally get justice and I hope that this will help them move on after waiting such a long time."

Find out more about the HBOS banking scam.

Don't forget you can keep up to date with the latest news via the free getreading app which can be tailored to receive alerts on the news you're interested in.

Download it for Apple devices here and Android devices here . </s> Latest: Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has appeared in court charged with attempted rape and sexual assault.

Mr Salmond faced a total of 14 charges when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today.

He was charged with two counts of attempted rape, nine counts of sexual assault, two of indecent assault and one breach of the peace.

After a brief hearing, which was held in private, he said: "Now that these proceedings are live it is even more important to respect the court and therefore the only thing I can say is I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court.

"I've got great faith in the court system in Scotland."

He made no plea during the hearing and was released on bail.

Mr Salmond was arrested yesterday after attending a police station in central Scotland.

He was Scotland's first minister from 2007 to 2014 and resigned his membership of the SNP in August 2018.

Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has been arrested and charged by police.

The 64-year-old has been arrested by Police Scotland.

No further details of the charge have been released by the force.

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal.

“Proceedings are now live under the contempt of court act.”

Mr Salmond, from Linlithgow, West Lothian, was the Scottish first minister from 2007 to 2014. </s> A corrupt HBOS banker has been locked up for 11 years after he and his cronies 'financially raped' small businesses to fund lavish holidays and sex parties in one of Britain's biggest ever frauds.

Lynden Scourfield, 54, a senior director of HBOS, 'sold his soul' to David Mills by forcing firms that needed to borrow cash to use his friend's crooked consultancy firm.

He 'sold his soul for sex, for luxury trips ... for bling and for swag', a judge said.

Behaving like the 'Mafia', they would then use threats and extortion to seize control of the businesses, plundering bank accounts and pocketing massive new loans granted in their name.

Scourfield, who boasted of being the 'grand wizard', enjoyed luxury holidays, trips on Mills' superyacht and sex with porn stars in return for his help. The scam cost scores of hard-working middle-class business owners not only their livelihoods, but also their family homes, pensions, savings and in one case even her marriage.

Jurors were told the fraud was worth £245million, but victims and police sources said the cost to small firms ruined by the scam was up to £1billion.

Scourfield was jailed for 11 years and three months while Mills, 60, was given 15 years at Southwark Crown Court today.

Michael Bancroft, 73, was jailed for 10 years, Mark Dobson, 56, for four-and-a-half years, and John Cartwright, 72, for three-and-a-half years for their various roles in the fraud between 2003 and 2007.

Mills's wife Alison, 51, also played a major role in the corruption and was sentenced to three and a half years.

There was standing room only in the courtroom, which was packed with victims and their supporters, and applause and cheers from the public gallery when the sentences were passed.

Sentencing, Judge Martin Beddoe said the case involved an 'utterly corrupt senior bank manager letting rapaciously greedy people get their hands on vast amounts of bank money and their tentacles into ordinary and honest businesses'.

'Letting them rip apart those businesses without a thought for the lives and livelihoods of those affected in order to satisfy their rapacious desire for money and the trappings of wealth,' he added.

Scourfield had not shown a 'shred of remorse' for ruining the lives of the employers and employees of those companies, he continued.

'People haven't just lost money but in some instances their homes, family and friends,' he added.

'People who could have expected to be comfortable in retirement were left cheated, defeated and penniless.'

The judge described Mills as 'a thoroughly corrupt and devious man, adept at exploiting the weaknesses of others'.

'He is the devil to who you (Scourfield) sold your soul in exchange for sex, for luxury trips with or without your wife, for bling and for swag,' he added.

Some of the victims lost their companies, livelihoods and even their homes as a result of the scam.

Paul and Nikki Turner, from Cambridge, were ignored for years when they tried to report what was going on after their publishing company, Zenith, was run into the ground in the scam.

'They defrauded us, denied for 10 years that the fraud had happened, ignored the debt from the fraud and tried to evict us 22 times in order to cover up the fraud,' Mrs Turner said outside court.

'It's a huge success for us that the trial has gone on.'

She added: 'The other victims have gone through terrible things, they have gone through the loss of businesses and lost homes.

'Other people lost everything, including marriages broken up, because of this.'

When the wealthy gang of four men and a woman were convicted for the five-year fraud on Monday, Thames Valley Police commissioner Anthony Stansfeld described it as a 'shocking' and 'disturbing' crime.

He said: 'That a fraud of this size could have taken place either displays complicity or incompetence, a lack of corporate governance, complacency, and an absence of proper safeguards.'

The case bears similarities to the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays a crooked broker who made millions as part of a stock market fraud – using his ill-gotten millions on lavish parties, cars, prostitutes and drugs.

HBOS, the holding company behind Halifax and the Bank of Scotland, finally discovered Scourfield's unsanctioned loans in 2007. Just 18 months later the failing bank had to be taken over by Lloyds and required a £20.5billion taxpayer-funded bailout to cover toxic debts caused by excessive lending.

The Mail has seen numerous letters from the bank over the following years in which senior officials repeatedly denied it contributed to the failure of the companies that were fleeced, prompting accusations that it attempted to 'cover up' the scandal.

Victim Joanne Dove, who lost her business, home and marriage through the fraud, said: 'It was financial rape... I lost everything, my reputation, all our money, all our pension schemes.' It also emerged that:
• None The fraud carried on unhampered for four years because of a 'fundamental flaw' in the bank's checking system.
• None Former Tory Minister Sir James Paice said the head of HBOS 'flatly denied' the lender had done anything wrong after Scourfield was finally sacked.
• None Sir Victor Blank, the chairman of Lloyds TSB at the time of the HBOS takeover, was warned of a 'huge fraud' by one of the victims, but an associate wrote back to say it would 'not be appropriate to respond'.
• None Lloyds now faces a huge compensation claim from those defrauded.

Scourfield, who worked on impaired assets in the Reading branch of HBOS, was the 'goose laying golden eggs' for Mills and his consultancy firm Quayside, Southwark Crown Court was told.

Scourfield enjoyed 'sexual entertainment... on a fairly frequent basis' in return for his part in the scam. Wads of £4,000 cash to be spent on prostitutes were delivered to a central London flat where he entertained the women.

Nicknamed 'funny money', it was kept in a drawer along with a stash of Viagra. Suzie Best, a £250-an-hour escort and former adult TV star described the fat cat banker as a 'short, balding Danny DeVito lookalike' after one session at the rented flat in 2005.

She said the man with 'grey, brushed-back hair' asked her to go to the bedroom with him, but she 'didn't think he could get an erection at any stage'.

Ms Best, who costs £300-an-hour, called Scourfield and his friends the 'posh t**t bankers' and met them regularly at a rented London flat.

Suzie would perform sex acts on some of the men and also performed in 'girl-on-girl shows' for their pleasure.

Scourfield also suffered from 'suffered from premature ejaculation, liked to undress girls and liked girls to wear suspenders and mini-dresses', the court heard.

His favourite escort Suzie also offers 'verbal and physical domination' for clients who like spanking and humiliation.

Envelopes filled with wads of cash were delivered Scourfield at a flat in Portman Square.

If he was not there they were left in the 'blue drawer' which was where Bancroft kept a stash of viagra.

Cartwright told the man dropping off the cash it was 'funny money for Scourfield to pay for girls'.

Another call girl, a porn star, kept a diary detailing a lurid lesbian show she and three other women performed for Mills and Scourfield in October 2005. A later entry read: 'Chinese meal. Then drinks at flat and quick shag. Easy £1,500.'

Scourfield, who earned £88,600 a year, was also given free rein to travel across the world and splash out with an Amex card at Mills' expense. He spent more than £57,000 on jewellery, clothes, and hotels during 'boys' jollies' in Germany and the US.

Mills took him on several holidays, including a £4,000 seven-day cruise in Florida paid for on an Amex card from a struggling business.

Scourfield and Mills took their wives for a six-star cruise from Nice to St Tropez, staying in a royal suite on the three-day trip.

The Quayside consultants also enjoyed a luxury life from the money they stole. Mills and his wife Alison lived in a detached six-bedroom home, with swimming pool, tennis court and gym, in the affluent town of Chorleywood, Hertfordshire.

They also owned a 100ft £2million luxury superyacht called Powder Monkey, which was moored in the Mediterranean. Accomplice Michael Bancroft lives in a six-bedroom farmhouse in Warwickshire and had a villa in the Algarve.

He was employed by Quayside despite previously using £645,000 of shareholders' cash at another company to pay for his lingerie model mistress, work on his family home and golf holidays.

Scourfield got away with his 'deliberate, systematic and sustained' scam for so long because of a 'fundamental flaw' in the banking system, the court heard.

He would log unapproved loans in a bank system which would be sent to the company head office in Edinburgh. But the system was open to abuse because anyone with an appropriate level of authority could change limits on the system.

For three years between 2004 and 2007 there were also no audits at the Reading branch where Scourfield worked, the court heard. It was not until later that HBOS director Tom Angus became 'increasingly concerned' and arranged for a preliminary review that found 'many gaps in formal sanctioning'.

Scourfield was suspended for gross misconduct the following month, after which Quayside's involvement in the scam was discovered.

Two further internal investigations and a third by Deloitte found 'serious negligence and possible improper conduct'. But the Mail has seen documents showing that the bank repeatedly denied that any wrongdoing either in its lending or its use of Quayside as a consultancy long after it knew of serious problems.

Andrew Reade, who was left £250,000 out of pocket after his company Keenets was pillaged by Quayside, wrote to Victor Blank, the then chairman of Lloyds TSB, at the time of its takeover of HBOS in 2008 outlining in extensive detail the scale of the consultancy's 'huge fraud'.

He attached a dossier describing how many companies had suffered because of what was described as a 'huge fraud' involving Scourfield and Quayside.

But the next day he received a letter from the banker's executive assistant saying it would be 'not appropriate' to respond to the issues raised.

Sir Victor, a former business ambassador for Gordon Brown, was chairman of Lloyds in 2008 when the credit crunch hit.

Sir James, a former Tory minister who campaigned for bank collapse victims as an MP, said: 'The head of HBOS flatly denied to me that the bank had done anything wrong in a face-to-face meeting, despite all the evidence we now know to the contrary.

'I am pleased that justice has been done but very sorry it has taken so long. Clearly HBOS is going to have to recompense the very hard working men and woman who have suffered so badly.'

Mark Dobson, who was also a manager at HBOS, Mills and Michael Bancroft, were convicted on counts including bribery, fraud and money-laundering.

Alison Mills and John Cartwright were also convicted for their parts in the conspiracy. Another defendant, Jonathan Cohen, was acquitted. Scourfield pleaded guilty at an earlier trial last year. They will all be sentenced later this week.

A Lloyds spokesman said the bank assisted police throughout the probe.

Couple suffered '13 years of hell' but never gave up on tireless campaign to expose fraudsters

By TOM KELLY FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Nikki and Paul Turner suffered '13 years of hell' after falling victim to the HBOS fraudsters.

After their business was destroyed in the scandal, the couple led a tireless campaign to expose the crime – despite repeated denials of wrongdoing by the bank and threats to evict them from their home.

Their ordeal began in 2003, when they took out a £160,000 business loan from HBOS to fulfil their dream of starting a music publisher called Zenith Cafe.

In 2004 they were introduced to senior HBOS director Lynden Scourfield, who forced them to use crooked Quayside Corporate Services.

Quayside charged tens of thousands pounds in fees, but repeatedly gave incorrect advice. It was only after Zenith Cafe was forced out of business that the Turners discovered many other victims of the fraud.

Finding themselves broke, and with their accounts frozen, they were forced to sell their jewellery to finance investigations into the scam.

They wrote repeatedly to the bank, regulators, police and MPs, but said the banking group not only repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but also attempted to repossess the Turners' home through 22 eviction hearings.

Mr Turner said: 'It was a complete cover-up. The bank repeatedly attempted to mislead us, the other victims, our MPs and other authorities.' Mrs Turner added: 'What happened at HBOS Reading was fraud on an industrial scale.'

The Turners said they managed to keep hold of their five-bedroom home in Cambridge after the courts accepted that there was potential misconduct by the bank and refused to allow it to repossess the property.

But the couple estimate the scandal cost them £11million.

Unlike the Turners, Joanne Dove really did lose everything – her marriage, £1.2million business, savings, pension and home. The award-winning businesswoman is now a single mother of four living in social housing, so hard-up she could scarcely afford to pay the travel costs of attending court to see her tormenters go to jail.

She said: 'I can only liken my experience of dealing with HBOS appointed executives to how I would imagine dealing with the Mafia would be.

'It was financial rape... I lost everything, my reputation, all our money, all our pension schemes. My children lost their father in their lives and the idyllic childhood they previously had. Our family was devastated... they robbed me of my life's work.'

Miss Dove ran the eco-nappy company Cotton Bottoms, which by 2003 had grown so rapidly that she needed a £400,000 loan to expand.

Lynden Scourfield approved the loan, but insisted she hire Michael Bancroft from QCS as a non-executive director on the board.

The crooks then systematically bled the company dry, eventually taking it away from Miss Dove amid threats as while she was expecting her fourth child.

Bancroft even locked her in a room as he demanded controlling shares in the company.

She said: 'I felt like a hostage. It was like having a huge parasite implanted in the guts of the business.'

She said Bancroft put her at loggerheads with her husband, a co-director of the company, by secretly offering him a deal to buy out the firm and give him a new position.

In desperation, she was forced to sell the business to a competitor at a sixth of its value, leaving her ruined.

A 'goose laying golden eggs', a textiles tycoon and a businessman who preyed on small businesses: Profiles of the corrupt financiers and their cronies who orchestrated the scam

Debauched HBOS banker Lynden Scourfield, 54, built up a £245million of toxic debt as he pumped cash into failing businesses for David Mills to cream off.

Scourfield was the 'goose who was laying golden eggs' and Mills rewarded him with luxurious trips around the world and viagra-fuelled encounters with high-class hookers who were repulsed by his bulging gut.

One sex worker, known by the alias Suzie Best, described the fat cat banker as a 'short, balding Danny Devito lookalike' after a session at a rented Portman Square flat in 2005.

Another sex worker, dubbed FR, kept a diary detailing a lurid girl-on-girl show she and three other hookers performed for Mills, Bancroft, and Scourfield in October 2005.

Scourfield, whose HBOS salary averaged £88,600 a year between 2003-2007, was given free reign to travel across the world and splash out with an AMEX card at Mills' expense.

He spent more than £57,000 on jewellery, clothes, and hotels during 'jollies' in Dusseldorf, Germany, and the US.

In February 2004 he and Mills enjoyed a lavish holiday in Florida and Miami as Mills paid for a £4,000 seven-day cruise on an AMEX card from a struggling business.

A month later the Scourfield and Mill took their wives for a three-day all inclusive six-star cruise from Nice to St Tropez, staying in the ship's two-bedroom Royal Suite.

Mills and Scourfield went to the PGA golf show in Orlando a year later.

Scourfield also used the AMEX card to pay for stays in the five-star Westbury Hotel in Bond Street, Mayfair, and meals at Wilton's Oyster Bar in St James's, central London.

Alison Mills made sure to keep him sweet and flew him out to Barbados for her 40th birthday party with the Bancrofts. She also invited Scourfield and his wife Jacqueline, 53, on trips to Ascot, including a stop in the Royal Enclosure in 2006.

In November that year he and Dobson traveled to Bangkok for five days for Mills' 50th birthday - a trip that cost in excess of £13,500.

When Scourfield applied for a mortgage with the Portman Building Society between 2003-2004 Mills wrote to say he would receive up to £100,000 for 'consultancy fees' from QCS that year.

An investigation revealed £340,142 of explained income in the Scourfield's accounts between 2004-2007, and a further unexplained income of £340,142.

Prosecutors are unable to say exactly how much he received as many gifts took the form of untraceable bungs.

Scourfield admitted conspiracy to corrupt, money laundering and four counts of fraudulent trading at Southwark Crown Court on 12 August last year and is currently behind bars.

His wife Jacqueline Scourfield was the sole director of a 'slush company' called Zudiki which prosecutors say was 'established to enable Lynden Scourfield to receive and launder the proceeds of the corrupt relationship between him and David Mills'.

In 2013 she was charged with one count of money laundering between January 2004 and October 2010, but prosecutors later offered no evidence against her.

David Mills was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to corrupt, four counts of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Alison Mills, from Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, was cleared of one count of fraudulent trading but found guilty of one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Former NatWest banker and venture capitalist David Mills, 60, engineered the HBOS scam.

Mills preyed on struggling companies, charging exorbitant fees for 'consultancy' work by Quayside Corporate Services even though the firm wasn't a member of any recognised professional institute.

He also transferred failing businesses' assets to his shadowy firms The Sandstone Organisation and Knightingale Investments - neither are said to have had a 'genuine commercial purpose'.

The conman ensured HBOS funds would be pumped into the businesses he took over by bribing Scourfield - his 'golden goose' - with cash, lavish hospitality, viagra-fuelled romps with high-class escorts.

Mills and his wife Alison, 52, used the profits to fund the purchase and running costs of their £2million 100-foot long yacht Powdermonkey, shored up in the Mediterranean.

Alison, who has a 'well-established background in business and finance', organised the couple's social calendar to ensure Mills' gang 'remained loyal'.

She hosted the Scourfields and the Bancrofts at her 40th birthday party in Barbados and organised trips to Ascot which the Scourfields and Dobson attended.

In 2003 Mills hosted Scourfield at his property in Majorca for a week, and the pair later flew to Los Angeles together.

While in America they stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando and the Mandarin Oriental in Miami during a spending spree funded by Mills' AMEX card.

In 2004 David Mills wrote in support of Scourfield's mortgage application to the Portman Building Society, telling them he was due to receive a bonus of up to £100,000 from QCS.

A year later Alison booked a table for the couple and the Scourfields at the Ditchling Ball, an annual high-society charity event in West Sussex.

Mills also attended one of the gang's infamous sex parties, watching prostitutes perform girl-on-girl action at a rented flat in Portland Square with Scourfield and Bancroft.

More than £28million passed through David and Alison Mills' personal accounts during the conspiracy.

During her police interview, Alison claimed: 'I was not involved in my husband's businesses. I played a supporting role as his wife.'

She was represented by David Cameron's older brother Alexander, a QC who specialises in fraud cases.

Found guilty of one count of conspiracy to corrupt, three counts of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Textiles tycoon Michael Bancroft, 73, was no stranger to controversy before he joined QCS.

Jurors heard he took £645,000 of shareholders' cash from the Ritz Design Group to cover 'personal expenditure' between 1986-1991 after becoming principal shareholder and CEO of the company through a management buyout.

He spent hundreds of thousands on building, decorating and interior design work carried out to his then home 'Faddiley Hall' in Cheshire.

There were also charges in connection with family holidays in Europe and stays at luxury Scottish golf resort Gleneagles.

Bancroft also abused his company Barclaycard and AMEX cards and is said to have used shareholders' cash to pay for a flat for his then mistress, a lingerie model.

In 1991 he formally accepted wrongdoing, resigned, and agreed to pay back the money to avoid a criminal prosecution.

Bancroft joined Mills' team of corporate bandits and took director roles at struggling companies Flip Media Ltd, Simon Jay Ltd, and porno mag business Remnant after being engaged as a QCS 'consultant'.

He kept a stash of viagra in the cupboard at a rented flat in Portland Square that Scourfield used for his romps with prostitutes.

Bancroft and his wife Beverley, 67, owned a villa on the Algarve in Portugal and hosted the Scourfields there in 2004 and 2005.

But the relationship soured after Scourfield left HBOS and Bancroft sent him a solicitor's letter demanding more than £11,000 for the hospitality.

Bancroft splashed £100,000 on a failing businesses' credit card during the con and clawed in at least £200,000 of unauthorised payments.

He told police: 'My business expertise is in textiles. Throughout the 80s and 90s I gained a lot of experience in turning round companies in the textile industry and improving their financial results.'

Cleared of one count of fraudulent trading but convicted of one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

John Cartwright, 72, was a long-time associate of Bancroft who was said to have helped to cover his tracks when shareholders' cash was taken from Ritz..

Cartwright worked as the company's financial director and cooked up false invoices to throw investigators off Bancroft's scent.

He also helped himself to £12,000 in shares to pay for a car and 'fancy meals' for his wife.

He too agreed to repay money in 1991 to avoid prosecution.

The Ritz auditor, Stephen Wilkinson, said of the pair's scheme: 'At the time I was appalled that they had committed such a blatant fraud against the company and colluded with others to hide it from the other directors, employees and shareholders.'

Cartwright raked in £200,000 in unauthorised payments after Mills and Bancroft recruited him to QCS to prepare management accounts for struggling HBOS client Magenta.

He failed to disclose £150,000 of income to HMRC while working for the textile firm.

Cleared of one count of fraudulent trading and one count of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Accountant Jonathan Cohen, 57, organised tax affairs for Scourfield and Mills to provide a 'professional shield' for their con, it was alleged.

Cohen, the co-founder of Brett Adams, became 'hopelessly compromised' as he relied on Mills' businesses for his turnover and took a £151,000 loan from one of his firms in 2006.

Scourfield supervised Brett Adams' accounts, pumping HBOS money into the business when it ran into financial difficulties.

Cohen also worked for QCS as a consultant while he was auditing the company's finances - a 'significant conflict of interest'.

He previously worked as a finance director for investment company Caplay and financial services company Newmarket Investments before it dissolved in September 2016.

Caplay was listed on AIM, a submarket of the London Stock Exchange launched in 1995 to allow smaller, less-viable companies to float shares in a more flexible regulatory environment.

In 2014 he became director of bookkeeping company Brennah Ltd - he lives in a £600,000 detached house in Pinner, Middlesex.

Found guilty of one count of conspiracy to corrupt and one of conspiracy to conceal criminal property.

Scourfield's HBOS colleague Mark Dobson, 56, was rewarded for his part in the scam with £30,000 from Mills and extravagant hospitality.

Dobson worked in the bank's cash flow finance department before moving to Impaired Asset's Reading Office with Scourfield.

He later moved to HBOS's Bishopsgate office as a director.

The banker approved loans to two high-risk clients - Eyesaglow and the St David's Centre (a shopping development in Swansea) - while Mills siphoned the cash through his criminal business enterprise.

In 2006 the Mills' invited him and Scourfield to attend the Royal Enclosure at Ascot on QCS's tab.

Later that year he was seen chugging on a large cigar at Mills' 50th birthday bash in Thailand.

Dobson told the 2010 Deloitte investigation that QCS had been 'successful' and that 'the bank was fully paid out'.

HBOS dismissed him in 2012 for gross misconduct.

He lives in a £1.3million freehold flat in Barnsbury, north London.

HOW A TOP HBOS BANKER AND A CROOKED BUSINESSMAN MADE MILLIONS BY TARGETING SMALL BUSINESSES THE HBOS SCAM: HOW IT WORKED The QCS 'consultants' - Mills, his wife Alison, 52, Michael Bancroft, 73, and John Cartwright, 72 - ransacked the businesses' accounts by charging exorbitant fees and expenses Senior Impaired Asset [IA] manager Lynden Scourfield, 54, exploited 'systemic and personnel weaknesses' within HBOS to make millions with crooked businessman David Mills, 60, and his associates. They targeted 200 small businesses that were struggling to repay HBOS loans between 2003-2007. The bank's IA division took control of the failing clients in order to steady the ship and protect their loans, or to recover what funds they could through asset stripping. Scourfield threatened to stop the flow of cash to companies unless they hired 'turnaround consultants' from Mills' firm Quayside Corporate Services [QCS] for up to £30,000 a month each. Once they agreed, Scourfield authorised more than £500million of loans to the high-risk clients from his HBOS office in Reading, regardless of their ability to repay. The QCS 'consultants' - Mills, his wife Alison, 52, Michael Bancroft, 73, and John Cartwright, 72 - ransacked the businesses' accounts by charging exorbitant fees and expenses. When the firms went into administration, Mills seized what assets were left and transferred them to his sham companies The Sandstone Organisation and Knightingale Investments. The QCS gang spent the profits on millions or pounds' worth of property across Europe, birthday bashes in Thailand and Barbados, trips to Ascot, and a yacht. Scourfield was rewarded with at least £1million by way of luxury holidays, lavish gifts, and orgies with high-class escorts. His IA colleague Mark Dobson, 56, helped to divert funds from two high-risk clients to Mills' bogus businesses in return for £30,000 and lavish hospitality. Accountant Jonathan Cohen, 57, was said to have organised Scourfield and Mills' tax affairs to conceal the scam while his troubled firm Brett Adams raked in loans from HBOS's IA division. He was cleared of any involvement by the jury today. RUMBLED: HOW THE CORPORATE BANDIT WAS CAUGHT OUT HBOS had a 'second pair of eyes' principle, which meant all credit applications Scourfield authorised should have been looked over by his manager and senior director, Paul Burnett. The Managing Director of Credit Risk Hugh McMillan should have been alerted to the biggest deals. But neither man realised Scourfield was funnelling tens of millions into Mills' criminal enterprise - despite the fact that escalating debt from his loans was recorded and submitted to Mr Burnett. It was only when senior HBOS director Tom Angus was appointed to oversee IA in January 2006 that the bank began to wake up to his flagrant corruption. Within six months of his new role, Mr Angus asked to see authorisations for Scourfield's credit applications. Mark Dobson, 56, helped to divert funds from two high-risk clients to Mills' bogus businesses in return for £30,000 and lavish hospitality. He had to chase the fraudster repeatedly before receiving a suspicious bundle of documents that contained 'no evidence of appropriate sanctioning' in January 2007. A month later HBOS carried out a review of 38 struggling businesses that had received irregular loans from IA and together owed the bank £375million. The conclusion was damning: the bank stood to lose up to £288million from companies that had engaged QCS under Scourfield's supervision. Mr Angus confronted the conman with the findings at the bank's Bishopsgate office on 8 March 2007 - but within hours he went off sick with 'work-related stress' and never returned. HBOS suspended Scourfield for gross misconduct and he resigned in April 2007. The former banking giant carried out two further investigations but neither one uncovered the 'true nature' of Scourfield's corrupt relationship with Mills. Prosecutor Brian O'Neill QC said: 'Some other employees of the Bank do not emerge well from the investigation, most particularly Paul Burnett, who was Scourfield's immediate line manager. 'There is little doubt that his apparent lack of oversight was partly responsible for Scourfield's ability to act in the way that he did and for as long as he did.' He continued: 'Had Burnett and others paid closer attention to the crib sheet figures, Scourfield's activities may have been identified sooner.. 'Burnett lost his position at the Bank as a result of his failures as a manager.' Jurors were told 'systems and processes undoubtedly contributed to Scourfield's ability to behave dishonestly' as he began 'exploiting systemic and personnel weaknesses which he knew to exist'. But Mr O'Neill insisted there is 'no evidence' Mr Burnett or any other HBOS employees were complicit in the conspiracy, and said the bank wasn't 'knowingly turning a blind eye' to the con. HBOS, once the UK's biggest mortgage lender, suffered a devastating collapse during the credit crunch - and taxpayers were left to foot the £20.5billion bill. The banking giant was formed by the 2001 merger of Halifax and The Bank of Scotland and loaned £435billion within seven years as it pursued an aggressive expansion plan. But it lost £10.8billion in 2008 as profits plunged by 70 per cent when the credit crunch hit. The Banking Standards Commission later slammed HBOS bosses for 'catastrophic failings' and a 'colossal failure of management'. Former CEO James Crosby, the 'architect' of HBOS's failed strategy, forfeited the knighthood he was granted for 'services to the finance industry' after leaving the bank for a senior FSA role in 2006. Mr Crosby, thought to draw more than £400,000 a year from his HBOS pension, said he was 'deeply sorry' for the disaster. In 2012 HBOS senior executive Peter Cummings was fined £500,000 and banned from banking for life by the FSA for his part in the bank's near-collapse. Mr Cummings retired in 2009 with a £352,000 a year pension after making his name by lending to high-profile clients including Top Shop founder Philip Green. Lloyds Bank acquired HBOS in January 2009 as part of the rescue package. Amid the chaos, Lloyds instructed Deloitte to investigate Scourfield's activity after the Financial Services Authority (now the Financial Conduct Authority) issued a requirement notice. The criminal investigation didn't begin until after the report, dubbed Project Windsor, was completed in 2010. The 2010 report revealed that of the £250million written off by HBOS's IA division, £245million related to customers under Scourfield's management. Nearly all of them had engaged QCS's 'consultancy services'. Businesses that fell prey to the criminal plot include golf equipment firm Seoul Nassau, fishing tackle company Sharpe's Holdings, aviation group Corporate Jet Services (who owned Club 328 and Euromanx), textile business Magenta, restaurant and nightclub operator the Mezzanine Group, and Remnant Media, a company setup to buy porn mags including Asian Babes. HBOS began legal action against some of the clients, including couple Paul and Nikki Turner, who ran Cambridge-based music publisher Zenith before it was destroyed by Scourfield's scam. The bank took the Turners to court more than 15 times in an unsuccessful attempt to evict them after Scourfield devastated their business. Oxfordshire farmer Justin Riggs, 57, said his livelihood was 'annihilated' when Scourfield authorised a £375,000 loan and advised him to sell land and chicken coops in 2004. The farmer was forced to remortgage his house when his loan rose by £7,000 after he had paid £231,000 in interest and fees. Mr Riggs' plight was discussed in parliament in 2009 as MP Ed Vaizey noted: 'There is a pattern in the way that Mr Scourfield engaged numerous people. 'He has taken businesses and loaded them with loans, charges and consultancy fees. It's now up to HBOS to come to the table.' The six-year investigation, dubbed Operation Hornet, was 'the most complex and far-reaching' fraud case in Thames Valley Police's history, involving 120 officers.
The High Court in Glasgow jails corrupt juror Catherine Leahy for six years in the first case of its kind in Scotland.