An emailed statement warned today of further attacks on bankers after the home of former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin was damaged by vandals in Scotland.
Windows were smashed at the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive’s house in Edinburgh overnight. The windows of a Mercedes S600, parked in the driveway, were also smashed.
Mr Goodwin left the bank with a £693,000 (€752,000) annual pension last October after the British government bailed it out. Sir Fred was dubbed “Fred the Shred” for his ruthless cost-cutting.
A statement issued to media organisations shortly after the attack on Sir Fred’s house said: “We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless.
“Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning.”
The email was sent in the early hours of the morning to a number of British news outlets. No group was named in the message and it did not explicitly claim responsibility for the attack.
There was a notable police presence this morning at Sir Fred’s home in the upmarket Morningside area of the city. A police car with two uniformed officers stood guard outside. Scenes of crime specialists were inspecting the damage to the ground-floor windows and the car.
They were later joined by two CID officers, and a man arrived to measure the broken double-glazed windows. It is not known if anyone was in the house at the time of the attack, or who reported the vandalism. But it is thought that Sir Fred and his family have not been living in the house since the pension row erupted.
A spokesman for the banker said he will not be commenting on the attack.
A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm we attended at an address in Morningside around 4.35am today. Inquiries in relation to the incident are ongoing. We are appealing for witnesses.”
It has been reported that RBS continued to pay for personal security for Sir Fred following his departure from the bank, including CCTV monitoring of his home.
An RBS spokesman said today: “We are aware of the incident but it is a matter for police. There are security arrangements in place for Sir Fred, as is normal practice for departing executives.”
The car was later towed away. The damage to the rear windscreen was clearly visible and there were smaller cracks on one of the side windows and front windscreen.