The former Royal Bank of Scotland Chief Executive Sir Fred Goodwin re-enters the headlines as his Edinburgh home & car were vandalised in the early hours of today.
Television news reported not much sympathy for the stricken ex bank boss who led one of Scotland’s greatest financial instructions to near ruin, resulting in a multi billion pound bail out by the British taxpayer to save the Royal Bank from certain collapse.
Sir Fred was reported to have been 'shaken' at the news of the attack on his home. Anyone with information relating to the attack on the property is of course, encouraged to contact Lothian & Borders Police ...
Reports of the attack on Sir Fred’s Edinburgh residence :
The Herald reports :
Banker Goodwin's home and car hit in vandalism attack
The home of former bank boss Sir Fred Goodwin has been attacked by vandals.
Windows were smashed at the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's villa in Edinburgh.
The windows of a Mercedes S600, parked in the driveway, were also smashed in the attack on the house in Morningside early this morning.
It is understood Lothian and Borders police are investigating a report of vandalism.
Sir Fred has been at the centre of huge controversy about his £700,000 pension.
It is not known if anyone was in the house at the time of the attack or who reported the vandalism.
A police car stood guard today outside Sir Fred's home in the upmarket area of the city.
Three smashed ground-floor windows of the stone villa were clearly visible.
In the driveway, the rear window of a dark-coloured Mercedes S600 saloon was smashed, as well as the nearside rear passenger window.
There were no obvious signs of activity inside the house.
A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we attended at an address in Morningside around 4.35am today.
"Inquiries in relation to the incident are ongoing. We are appealing for witnesses."
It has been reported that RBS continued to pay for personal security for Sir Fred following his departure, 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.
"As we've said before, they will be reviewed in the coming months."
He would not comment on whether security measures were in place at the time of the vandalism.
Sir Fred has been subject to heavy criticism after refusing to give up any of his £700,000-a-year pension.
The former RBS chief executive, who stepped down from the post last October, rejected Government pressure to accept a reduction in his package, insisting that changes to the early retirement deal he negotiated when he was forced out in the autumn were "not warranted".
The massive payout was branded "obscene" and "grotesque" by MPs and "unjustifiable and unacceptable" by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Earlier this month, Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said the Government was taking "all steps" to challenge the enforceability of his pension contract.
Dubbed "Fred the Shred" for his ruthless cost-cutting, Sir Fred boasted of catapulting RBS "to the top of the premier league" with a £49 billion deal to capture Dutch rival ABN Amro in 2007.
But the acquisition proved disastrous for RBS as the credit crunch gripped markets - exposing the bank's weak balance sheet and bringing the firm to the brink of collapse.
RBS is now nearly 70%-owned by the taxpayer after a £20 billion bailout.
Last month the bank unveiled a record £24.1 billion loss and plans to raise up to £25.5 billion from the taxpayer.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she was unaware of the damage until she walked past the house.
"I'm surprised that nothing has happened sooner as there has been so much publicity," she said.
"I feel sorry for his family but I think people's emotions are running very high in today's environment.
"Like it or not, we are in a blame society and are always looking for someone to blame."
Another neighbour said: "It is shocking, that is totally unnecessary - absolutely shocking. Nobody deserves that."
Two scenes of crime experts from the Scottish Police Services Authority arrived at Sir Fred's home at 9am to inspect the damage.
They spent 20 minutes photographing the broken windows, the ground beneath them and collecting some fragments.
They also photographed the damage to the Mercedes.
After 20 minutes they were joined by two CID officers.
Another man later arrived to measure up the broken double-glazed windows.
Another of Sir Fred's neighbours said the attack on his house was wrong but she had little sympathy for him.
The woman, who gave her first name as Deirdre, said: "Sympathy? Exactly the opposite.
"If I was him I would have refused to have all this money and I would be mortified at what had happened to the bank.
"I think it's wrong, but I can understand if you lose your job and everything and your ex-boss caused a problem. He is getting millions which he doesn't need.
"If I was him I would take virtually no money and I would try to support more people in jobs."
She said she had not seen Sir Fred. "He was a bit of a nuisance when he had security guards around and so on but as far as we were concerned we didn't have anything to do with him and he was perfectly harmless."
A statement was issued to media organisations shortly after the attack on Sir Fred's home.
It said: "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."
and as if that wasn’t enough for Sir Fred, it seems a group may have it in for bankers, as email statements floating round the media indicate :
The Herald reports :
Emailed statement warns of further attacks on bankers
An emailed statement warned today of further attacks on bankers after the home of former RBS boss Sir Fred Goodwin was damaged by vandals.
Windows were smashed at the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive's house in Edinburgh overnight.
The windows of a Mercedes S600, parked in the driveway, were also smashed.
A statement issued to media organisations shortly after the attack on Sir Fred's house said: "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.
"Bank bosses should be jailed. This is just the beginning."
The email, sent in the early hours of the morning to a number of outlets including the Press Association, came from the address bankbossesarecriminalsmail.com.
No group was named in the message and it did not explicitly claim responsibility for the attack.
There was a notable police presence this morning at Sir Fred's home in the upmarket Morningside area of the city.
A police car with two uniformed officers stood guard outside.
Scenes of crime specialists were inspecting the damage to the ground-floor windows and the car.
They were later joined by two CID officers, and a man arrived to measure the broken double-glazed windows.
Sir Fred - dubbed "Fred the Shred" for his ruthless cost-cutting - has been at the centre of controversy over his £700,000-a-year pension.
He took early retirement after RBS almost collapsed as the credit crunch gripped markets.
It is not known if anyone was in the house at the time of the attack, or who reported the vandalism.
But it is thought that Sir Fred and his family have not been living in the house since the pension row erupted.
A spokesman for the banker said he will not be commenting on the attack.
A Lothian and Borders Police spokeswoman said: "We can confirm we attended at an address in Morningside around 4.35am today. Inquiries in relation to the incident are ongoing. We are appealing for witnesses."
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."
The car was later towed away from Sir Fred's home. The damage to the rear windscreen was clearly visible and there were smaller cracks on one of the side windows and front windscreen.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: "I'm surprised that nothing has happened sooner as there has been so much publicity.
"I feel sorry for his family but I think people's emotions are running very high in today's environment.
"Like it or not, we are in a blame society and are always looking for someone to blame."
Another neighbour said: "It is shocking, that is totally unnecessary - absolutely shocking. Nobody deserves that."
Asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy for Sir Fred, a No 10 spokesman said: "On the specific question of damage to his property, there can be no excuse for it at all."
Jim Monaghan, of Tommy Sheridan's Solidarity party, said: "I am not arguing it is right to do this but people are starting to pay the price for the mistakes of those like Sir Fred Goodwin. Anger is growing."
He also questioned whether the police presence would have been as heavy if the incident had happened in a less upmarket area.
"If you lived in a less affluent area, I think you may not have seen the police until later this week," he said.
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