Loan shark forces couple out of home

A LOAN shark forced a vulnerable couple to move home to get away from him after he charged them interest rates of more than 719,000 per cent per year.

Colin Morrison provided several illegal cash loans to Joseph Rankin and his partner Angela Clements – who suffers from muscle wasting disease Miotonic Dystrophy – over a six year period.

The couple struggled to pay the money back thanks to the huge interest rates and were often left with just 15 a week to live on.

Mr Rankin, 40, and Ms Clements, 46, also borrowed from other loan sharks to pay Morrison back and eventually had to move away from Glasgow to escape.

Morrison, 46, also targeted two other women Elizabeth Cassells and Georgina Close and again lent them cash in return for it being paid back at an inflated rate.

At Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday (Wed), Morrison , of Glenturret Street, Glasgow, admitted to illegally lending money at his home address and other areas of Glasgow between January 2004 and January 2010.

He was originally also charged with assaulting Mr Rankin and committing a breach of the peace but the Crown accepted his pleas of not guilty to those charges.

His partner Roseann Morrison was also charged with lending money illegally but her not guilty plea was also accepted by the Crown.

Prosecutor Richard Hannay told the court that Mr Rankin and Ms Clements borrowed loans ranging from 10 to 400 from Morrison.

It was estimated that they paid the loan shark around 1,500 a year for six years.

Mr Hannay said: "They would on occasion borrow from other money lenders to meet the repayments on loans to Colin Morrison.

"Joseph Rankin maintains that as a result of having to pay money lenders, he and Ms Clements would sometimes have only 15 a week to live on."

The procurator fiscal added: "On January 12, 2010, they left Glasgow as a means of getting away from money lenders including the accused.

"Mr Rankin states that he has a lot of friends in Glasgow but is unable to contact any of them and feels unable to be anywhere near Glasgow."

The Scottish Illegal Money Lending Unit estimates that the compounded annual interest rate paid by the couple if they had taken a year to repay the loan was 719,214 per cent.

The court heard that Morrison also started providing loans to 42-year-old Elizabeth Cassells around Christmas time 2007 and she continued to borrow from him over the next three years.

Georgina Close, a widow aged 50, also borrowed sums from Morrison but always repaid them the following week at 30 per cent interest per week.

Mr Hannay said that the matter was eventually reported to the police and a warrant was granted to search Morrison's home.

Officers found 7230.15 stashed in his wardrobe.

Mr Hannay added: "The investigation established that Mr Morrison has not been employed or in receipt of benefits for the period libelled.

"His wife, the former co-accused, received benefits of between 94 and 98 per week."

Sheriff Martin Jones told Morrison that he had pled guilty to a very serious charge.

Sheriff Jones added: "Those who prey on the poor, weak and vulnerable in this way will be severely treated by the courts."

The sheriff deferred sentence until later this month for background reports and Morrison was released on bail.

The money lender will now also face proceedings under the proceeds of crime act.