Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Proceeds of crime debacle could let shamed businessman off the hook

Perth Sheriff Court.
Perth Sheriff Court.

Evidence vital to clawing back tens of thousands of pounds of tax dodged by a businessman has been destroyed in flooding that blighted Perth Sheriff Court in 2016.

The contaminated casework has caused delays in the proceeds of crime action being taken against former bus firm boss Stuart Newing-Davis.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is unsure how much it will be able to piece back together.

Newing-Davis, formerly of Bankfoot, was convicted in June of a £174,000 VAT fraud after months of avoiding court appearances.

The 48-year-old ran an agency that supplied trained staff to the UK rail industry, Trainpeople.co.uk but repeatedly falsified its accounts to prop up another struggling business, Ptarmigan Transport Solutions.

The Crown and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) hope to recoup some of the money by investigating his assets including at least one home in France where his wife and children live.

Depute Fiscal Carol Whyte said: “The delay has been caused by productions being damaged by flooding in this court last December.

“They were uplifted in September on the orders of the Crown but have been found to be contaminated. HMRC are in the process of attempting to create replacement productions based on their computer records.

“Colleagues are also still awaiting information on French properties that may or may not be owned by the accused.”

Newing-Davis has latterly been described in court by his legal team as a near penniless London bus driver who relies on the YMCA for accommodation.

The proceeds of crime action will call on December 12.