Ron in court.

[sufc4life21]

O dear, this looks serious.

 

[Medway Blue]

Here

https://twitter.com/x/status/1452967192266485768

Lots of "probably not that serious, and will probably drag on for months or years" posts.

I think this is serious. That date is v. soon.

 

[blues exile]

It was something the Daily Mail did in the '70's. It was announced in the paper that he would be on a certain seafront on a particular day with a description of him which involved him having a copy of said rag under his arm.
You had to go up to him and utter the line, 'You are the Daily Mail mystery man and I claim my £5'.

Back before then. 1927 Lobby Lud was a character invented by the Westminster Gazette, a now defunct newspaper. You are Lobby Lud and I claim my £5. A lot of money in those days. Taken over by different newspapers. As a 12 year old in the fifties I spotted him on Eastbourne seafront but someone beat me to it within a few feet of him.

 

[JAL]

I wonder if he put more passion into this than he did in the council meeting last night.

 

[Shrimper]

He's going down, should be used to that feeling though

 

[euroshrimper]

The mind "boggles" you could not make this story up........just shows HMRC have a very long memory ! !

 

[Banksy]

View attachment 17315
I know it looks like it's out of that **** rag, but just saw this posted on Twitter.

Joshua Jones not a fan quite obviously !

 

[Banksy]

Ron's Accountants need a good kick up the rear end !

 

[gatecrasher]

I suspect as many have alluded to this will merely be a holiday at her majesty's pleasure for a couple of years for Ronaldo at worst and disqualification of directorship at best - either way thr club will be passed to the lesser bouffanted junior one and daddies pension pot will be secured anyway. Which in turn means stadium gets built, we get sold ...and then shafted every season for rent from whoever buys us going forward.

 

[Supershrimper]

From the Echo

BLUES chairman Ron Martin has appeared in court alongside a former club director over alleged VAT fraud.

The Southend United chairman appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court alongside Geoffrey King, former CEO of the club.

Both faced charges of failure to pay £921,260 in VAT, and failure to pay £4,485,000 in added tax in the sale of land.
This comes after the club's plans for a new stadium and training ground were approved last night.

The sale of land relates to an area in Leckhampton, in Cheltenham.

The cause has been adjourned to crown court on November 23.

Southend United chairman Ron Martin in court over 'failing to pay tax' worth millions

BLUES chairman Ron Martin has appeared in court alongside a former club director over alleged VAT fraud.

www.echo-news.co.uk

 

[Tampa Blue]

Just when you think the reputation of our beloved club cannot sink any lower, we are reminded that it can.

 

[Boreham Blue]

Despite the innocent until proven guilty comments there are lots of jumping to assumptions. I’m guessing the charges are serious enough to require Crown Court but let’s wait for the facts.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

Of course this is potentially very serious indeed. No doubt Ron will maintain he is innocent and plead not guilty when the time comes if he has not already done so.
In our legal system the presumption of innocence applies and this must be afforded to Ron.
He and his family are deserving of our sympathy as this will likely drag on for a long time before it is resolved. It will place Ron and those closest to him under great strain and pressure.
Ron's innocence or otherwise is a matter for the court system, and, should not be the concern of SZ.
However, there are potential implications for the future of the Club. We are not a going financial concern, and, for a long time, have only been kept afloat by Ron's money.
Will these problems affect his ability to fund SUFC in either the short or the long term?
This is nothing like being taken to court by the VAT for late payment. It is much more serious than that.

 

[JAL]

So ****ing frustrating that our club has to be linked to all the **** he does, what a dream it would be to have a normal owner.

 

[RHB]

From the Echo

BLUES chairman Ron Martin has appeared in court alongside a former club director over alleged VAT fraud.

The Southend United chairman appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court alongside Geoffrey King, former CEO of the club.

Both faced charges of failure to pay £921,260 in VAT, and failure to pay £4,485,000 in added tax in the sale of land.
This comes after the club's plans for a new stadium and training ground were approved last night.

The sale of land relates to an area in Leckhampton, in Cheltenham.

The cause has been adjourned to crown court on November 23.

Southend United chairman Ron Martin in court over 'failing to pay tax' worth millions

BLUES chairman Ron Martin has appeared in court alongside a former club director over alleged VAT fraud.

www.echo-news.co.uk

Good old Echo, proof reading as good as ever.

 

[Tampa Blue]

He and his family are deserving of our sympathy as this will likely drag on for a long time before it is resolved. It will place Ron and those closest to him under great strain and pressure.
Ron's innocence or otherwise is a matter for the court system, and, should not be the concern of SZ.

Whilst I 100% agree with the presumption of innocent until proven guilty, my sympathy at the moment will be reserved for Ron's family only (and Geoff Kings' who seems to have been forgotten about) - unless of course he/they is/are found not guilty at which time he/they will have my sympathy.

I stress 'not guilty' rather than 'case not proven' or any 'technicality' that results in the charges being dropped.

I would also stress that I have no idea whether there is even a single charge to face or whether this is some form of vendetta by HMRC though in all honesty it would be a surprise if a publicly funded organisation where decisions are normally made by 'committee' were able to pursue such courses of action.

To say that this situation is "not the concern of SZ" beggars belief in my opinion - this may be the single most worrying scenario that the club are currently facing.

I have no love for RM, but I honestly hope that he and Geoff King have nothing to fear in this and will be found not guilty at Crown Court.

 

[Cricko]

I wonder whether this will effect the 30 million RM is due on November the 20th from Homes England towards FF etc...quite handy coming in 3 days before the court date on the 23rd.


If guilty, in one hand from the Gov and out the other to the Gov.

 

[Tampa Blue]

I wonder whether this will effect the 30 million RM is due on November the 20th from Homes England towards FF etc...quite handy coming in 3 days before the court date on the 23rd.


If guilty, In one hand from the Gov and out the other to the Gov.

But that won't stop the charges being fulfilled as you can't just say "oops sorry about that and here's the missing millions"

 

[Richard Hearn]

It's something to do with a newspaper correspondent from over 100 years ago who used to go to a town or city and a description was printed in the newspaper. To win the money you had to go up to him and say "You are X and I claim my £5".

Someone on here must know more than I do!

It began in 1927 when the Westminster Gazette ran a readers' competition whereby one of their employees would visit a different seaside resort each day ( a somewhat obscure photo of Lud and clue to which resort he was in was given in the paper) and the first reader of the paper to identify him got a prize.

He was called Lobby Lud (after the paper's telegraphic address "Lobby, Ludgate") and a person had to have the paper with them and approach him with the phrase "You are Mr Lobby Lud and I claim the Westminster Gazette prize".

The prize at the time was £5 which is the equivalent of about £300 today.


(and just seen that Blues Exile has beaten me to it.)

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Lots of "probably not that serious, and will probably drag on for months or years" posts.

I think this is serious. That date is v. soon.

That date is very soon but the case won’t actually be heard for ages. The courts are underfunded and overwhelmed from even before Covid. The only way this will speedily be resolved if they both plead guilty and it is just sentencing.