Rangers owner Whyte accuses BBC of conducting a ‘witch-hunt’

CRAIG Whyte, the under-fire owner of Rangers Football Club, launched a new broadside against BBC Scotland last night after the broadcaster claimed he may have “lied” in court.

The businessman accused the broadcaster of conducting a witch-hunt against him over claims he may be guilty of perjury over evidence he gave in a civil case at Glasgow Sheriff Court last year.

The claims revolve around Mr Whyte’s seven-year disqualification from being a company director, revealed in a BBC documentary in October.

The BBC claims Mr Whyte gave evidence in the civil case – over an alleged unpaid repair bill at a castle he owns – which contradicted the findings in the ruling which ordered his directorship ban.

It was handed down following a trial at the Royal Courts of Justice Companies Court in London on 13 June, 2000. The case related to Mr Whyte’s former company Vital UK.

Mr Whyte told last year’s civil case that his ban from being a company director did not relate to the treatment of creditors.

However the BBC yesterday revealed it had obtained a copy of the ruling made by registrar John Simmonds in June 2000, in which he said “the assets of the company [Vital UK] were put out of the reach of the creditors on a somewhat dubious delayed basis”.

A spokesman for Mr Whyte said: “This is clearly a witch-hunt by the BBC. It will be contested robustly.”