Former Rangers FC administrator suing top law chiefs for £9m

A former Rangers FC administrator who was arrested during the investigation into the club’s affairs is suing Scotland’s Chief Constable and most senior prosecutor for £9 million.

David Whitehouse, 51, is seeking the sum from Police Scotland boss Philip Gormley and Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC.

Mr Whitehouse and his colleague Paul Clark were detained and charged by police investigating businessman Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club in 2011.

Charges against the two men were later dropped following a court hearing before judge Lord Bannatyne in June 2016.

But Mr Whitehouse claims that his detention by police officers who were investigating businessman Craig Whyte’s takeover of the Glasgow side was “wrongful”.

Lawyers acting for the insolvency practitioner claim that their client was “unlawfully detained” by detectives in November 2014.

They also claim that throughout the period of detention, there was no reasonable grounds to suspect that Mr Whitehouse had broken the law.

Mr Whitehouse also claims that police obtained evidence without following proper legal procedure.

The lawyers also claim that prosecutors issued an indictment against Mr Whitehouse without any “evidential basis”.

Mr Whitehouse claims the actions of police and prosecutors resulted in him suffering damage to his reputation of being a first class financial professional.

The businessman, of Cheshire, claims that his arrest caused him to suffer a £1.75 million loss to his earnings.

Mr Whitehouse says that between 2009 to 2014, his gross earnings averaged £988,000 per year. He says that he only made £408,400 in 2015 and £401,733 in 2016.

His lawyers say he lost earnings because he lost his licence to operate as an insolvency practitioner and he had lost out on bonuses. Mr Whitehouse also claims that his arrest caused knock-on effects in other part of his life.

He says that while in police custody in 14 November 2014, a senior anti-terrorist police officer told him that his life and home were at risk.

Mr Whitehouse says that his insurers then declined to renew his home insurance.

Yesterday, lawyers acting for Mr Whitehouse appeared during a procedural hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. It emerged Mr Whitehouse’s colleague Paul Clark and fellow administrator David Grier are also to sue the Chief Constable and Lord Advocate.