2009-03-26

Thugs vandalise Sir Fred Goodwin's house

It is understood Sir Fred is not currently living at the large, detached property in The Grange area of Edinburgh.

Officers, who were alerted by a burglar alarm, arrived at 4.35am and inquiries are ongoing.

Neighbours awoke to find police cars outside the property this morning.

One of the e-mails, sent from the address bankbossesarecriminals@mail.com, says: "Fred Goodwins house was attacked this morning.

"We are angry that rich people, like him, are paying themselves a huge amount of money, and living in luxury, while ordinary people are made unemployed, destitute and homeless. This is a crime. Bank bosses should be jailed.

"This is just the beginning."

Police confirmed Sir Fred was not in the property at the time of the attack, and police say no-one was injured.

Three smashed ground-floor windows of the stone villa were clearly visible today.

In the driveway, the rear window of a dark-coloured Mercedes S600 saloon was smashed, as well as the nearside rear passenger window.

A police spokesman said: "The Force had been alerted following the activation of security systems at the premises.

"Officers, who had been in the vicinity, were at the scene within minutes and discovered there had been vandalism to windows of the property and damage to a car.

"Inquiries are ongoing to find those responsible for the vandalism.

CCTV footage is being recovered and door to door inquiries are being carried out in the area."

He said inquiries were at an "early stage" and appealed for information. "We are aware that an organisation claiming to be responsible for the vandalism had made contact with media outlets and this also forms part of our inquiry. The Force takes very seriously any planned attack on any individual or their property.

"We have been in contact with the owner of the property, who was not in the house at the time, and can confirm no one was injured."

Sir Fred has been the subject of widespread public condemnation in recent weeks for his decision to keep his £16.9 million pension pot.

He was forced to resign from his post last October after overseeing the biggest loss in corporate history as the bank lost £24.1billion.

Neighbour Roger Spooner, owner of the nearby Penfriend Ltd, said: "He's not living there at the moment, and we've not really had much bother there recently."

Another neighbour who lives across the street, but asked not to be named, said: "I didn't hear anything.

"The first I knew of it was when I was shaving this morning and heard it on the radio.

"I came out to make sure that my house wasn't damaged too.

"Luckily we were fine. I have been expecting something like this to happen for a while now, so I'm not surprised."

A spokesman for the banker said he would not be commenting on the attack.

It has been reported that RBS continued to pay for personal security for Sir Fred following his departure from the bank, including CCTV monitoring of his home.

An RBS spokesman said today: "We are aware of the incident but it is a matter for police. There are security arrangements in place for Sir Fred, as is normal practice for departing executives."

Sir Fred's local MSP also condemned the attack, and said the former banking boss and his family had the right to live without fear of violence.

Liberal Democrat Mike Pringle said: "It is right that we have a debate over the unjustified and unacceptable pension gifted to Mr Goodwin. It is, however, wrong that his home should be targeted for attack.

"The police should treat this case as they would any other crime."

A spokesman for Gordon Brown, asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy for Sir Fred, said: "On the specific question of damage to his property, there can be no excuse for it at all."

Source: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Thugs-vandalise-Sir-Fred-Goodwin39s.5105936.jp