GR Direct - Winter Sale 2024
Tuesday 26 November 2024
 5.5°C   N Moderate Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

News / Caroline Miller explains Judane payments

LERWICK councillor Caroline Miller yesterday (Tuesday) made public the reasons for diverting rent owed to her husband’s knitwear company through one of her own business accounts.

Mrs Miller went public for the first time after last month accusing fellow councillor Gary Robinson and Shetland News of making defamatory statements about her relationship with Judane.

Her comments come after Shetland Islands Council last month agreed to write off two thirds of a £600,000 business loan made by Shetland Development Trust to Judane.

Shortly afterwards it emerged that Judane factory tenant Chris Hodge had paid more than £20,000 in rent to Caroline Miller, trading as Northern Isles Knitwear in 2007, the year she was elected as a councillor.

Councillor Robinson called for a full investigation into the affair, having already voiced his opposition to the council’s settlement with the knitwear firm.

In a letter from Mrs Miller’s lawyers Morton Fraser, of Edinburgh, she explained that the rental payments had been made through her company with the full knowledge of the creditors, including the Royal Bank of Scotland and Shetland Development Trust.

The letter says that the Royal Bank insisted the company change its bank account to a “balance reduction only” account, which meant other creditors could only be paid through a separate account.

The company decided to use a bank account used by Northern Isles Knitwear, a company which was no longer in operation. All the money paid into this account was used to pay Judane’s creditors.

Records of these transactions were submitted to Companies House, met with the satisfaction of Shetland Development Trust and were made in consultation with the Inland Revenue and the local VAT office.

The letter states: “Our client has not benefitted personally in any way from these transactions.”

It adds that Mrs Miller consulted the council’s administration department on disclosures on her Register of Interests “at all relevant times”, pointing out that she had never been a director of Judane.

Become a member of Shetland News

 

“The accounting status of the relevant payments was disclosed in the Accounts which were supplied on a frequent basis to the Council and Shetland Development Trust. Nothing in these transactions was hidden from scrutiny by Council Development Officers and Councillors.”

In response, councillor Robinson said that he had asked council officials about Judane’s financial affairs and had not been supplied with any such information.

He added: “All I wanted to hear was some answers and I can’t understand why it’s taken so much grief and over a month to get these answers.”

Mrs Miller tried to have an interdict served on Mr Robinson and Shetland News on 23 December to stop further commenting on her affairs concerning Judane. The request was refused by the Court of Session, in Edinburgh.

A Shetland News spokesman said: “Like Mr Robinson, we find it hard to understand why Mrs Miller chose to go through her lawyers rather than give us the chance of asking her directly about this matter. It could have saved a lot of time and cleared up a lot of confusion.”

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.