Ex-fish farm director jailed for five years

A former director of a Galway-based fish farm was given a five-year jail sentence by a Scottish court yesterday for his part in frauds totalling almost £8 million sterling (€12.25 million). Stuart Baillie (39) - who had carved out a new career in Gaelic Seafoods in Galway since his interests in Scotland's Highlands and Islands collapsed - was also banned from acting as a company director for seven years. The sentence followed a six-month trial, thought to be the longest ever heard at the High Court in Edinburgh, and described by Judge Robin McEwan QC as "unique".

During 101 days of evidence, a jury heard how what began as a ruse to foil IRA bombers led to a string of frauds involving bogus leases for heavy industrial plant and equipment. The court also heard that a key figure in setting up the operation was working for the British intelligence service MI6.

Yesterday, defence advocate Robert Henderson QC insisted that, throughout, Baillie had been no more than an accessory, acting under orders from the real perpetrator of the frauds. He also told the court that Baillie had not gained anything as a result - and the cost to him of being forced to resign his company directorships following his arrest came to £200,000. The lawyer said that since investigations began in 1991, Baillie - who had never been in trouble before - had led a blameless life. His plea for leniency was backed by testimonials from business associates including a former president of an Irish accountancy body and a Dail deputy.

But Judge McEwan, acknowledging "the most eloquent plea in mitigation I have ever heard", said a jail sentence was inevitable, given the jury's verdict. "The sum they have found you guilty of is enormous, almost £8 million and I would be failing in my duty if I took a lenient view of that," said the judge.

When the trial began last November, Baillie faced five fraud charges - said to have netted more than £12.8 million between 1988 and 1991. It was alleged that Baillie and his father, Malcolm, had used companies they ran from Inverness to con finance houses. The lenders were persuaded to put up cash - but the vehicles and other industrial equipment was simply not there to back the leases. In some cases old, secondhand equipment was passed off as new and in other cases the same items were the subject of more than one deal. Throughout the marathon trial, Baillie blamed Irish entrepreneur, Colin Lees, as the brains behind the frauds. Lees himself is now awaiting sentence in a Belfast court after admitting separate frauds amounting to £20 million. The trial heard how Lees (46) enjoyed close links with the security services in Northern Ireland and wanted to build prefabricated police stations, under cover, from a base in the Western Isles.

A construction company was set up near Lochmaddy, North Uist. Mr Malcolm Baillie was recruited as a frontman - to hide Lees's involvement. Later, Stuart Baillie - then a 28-year-old trainee accountant - was persuaded to join his father on the board of Marine Structures Ltd and other business ventures.

Production was halted when the IRA found out about the scheme, the trial heard. But the company continued - on paper at least. The network of companies and subsidiaries included the Lees Group (Scotland), Scotpole (International), Nationwide Plant Corporation, and other firms supposed to be engaged in forestry and fish farming. Advocate depute, Alan Dewar, prosecuting, said without the millions flowing in from the bogus leasing deals, the companies would not have survived.

After deliberating for three days, the jury rejected Baillie's attempt to shift all the blame onto Colin Lees. But it deleted parts of the indictment, reducing the total fraud by more than £5 million.