Millionaire family at war over threats claim

Perth Sheriff Court. Euan Snowie was found not guilty of making threats. Picture: Ian Rutherford

Members of the Snowie family have rowed amid allegations of violent threats, one of which involved a sledgehammer.

Euan Snowie, 46, claimed brother Gordon tried to kick him out of his mansion and declare him bankrupt for failing to pay back a loan deal they agreed.

Euan then phoned Gordon’s wife Shona, 48, which led to his arrest and trial on a charge of threatening her and her family.

She told Perth Sheriff Court: “He said Clare [his wife] had just been taken away to Larbert Hospital because of your husband. I was a bit alarmed.

“I said it wasn’t my husband’s fault, it was his fault, it was his actions that had caused it.

“He then said ‘Shona, there are going to be people at your door tonight.’ I said ‘what do you mean?’ He then said he had had the press at his house and had paid them off.

“We argued on about what he thought my husband was doing wrong. I said it was up to him to pay back the money he was due.

“I was very upset about the way he was treating us. It was the tone in his voice. I felt he was threatening me, when he said there would be people at my door that night.”

She told the court she phoned relatives from her home in Dunning, Perthshire, asking advice.

The court heard that she accepted recognising her husband’s voice on a recording purportedly of him confronting his nephew Calum Snowie with a sledgehammer.

She admitted her husband’s bid to sequestrate his brother and sister-in-law could have led to them being removed from the estate [Boquhan] in Kippen, near Stirling, where they lived.

Shona’s sister-in-law Alison Snowie, 51, phoned Euan to confront him. She said he talked about sending “heavies” to sort it out.

Euan Snowie denied the call was menacing. He told the court he had agreed a large loan with Gordon to cover a tax demand. He said he had arranged to get the money from the bank but had turned to his brother as he knew he had the cash.

Euan said he then defaulted on paying the full sum but managed to pay back £50,000 per month for three months.

Euan Snowie, 46, of Boquhan House, Kippen, denied making threatening or grossly offensive calls to Shona and Alison Snowie on 14 September 2013 and threatening Shona and her family. He was found not guilty.

The Snowie brothers along with their mother Sheila, sold their waste management company for around £40 million in 2005.