Scottish con - man , even the politicians were fooled by his money , charm and wit

One has to feel sorry for excessively generous Liberal Democrat Party donor Michael Brown who has been convicted by a jury jury of three men and nine women of theft of the inherited millions of pounds (in excess of £8Mn.) from the notoriously tight fisted ex-Manchester United chairman Martin Edwards.

He was unanimously convicted four counts - two thefts, one of furnishing false information and one of perverting the course of justice between February 9, 2005 and April 17, 2006.

42 year old goatee bearded Michael Brown, disgracefully pretended his father was a Lord, (such people should be avoided at all costs) claimed connections with royalty and promised investors staggering returns of up to 50%.

Brown lived a life of lies and claimed he had clients "vetted" by US embassy officials and Special Branch before accepting their money, and the Glasgow-born businessman eventually netted some £36 - £2.4 million found it's way by way of a a company called 5th Avenue Partners without questions being asked into the Lib Dems' 2005 General Election war chest.

Brown besides hob-nobbing with the then alcoholic party leader Charles Kennedy also splashed out £2.5m on a private jet, £400,000 on an ocean-going yacht and £327,000 on an entertainment system for his home in Majorca.

The reason for feeling sorry is that he or his solicitor chose to use the services of that star at the bar , Julian Bevan, QC, who told London's Southwark Crown Court (evidently without much conviction) his client had done nothing wrong.

Probably the most inept and incompetent barrister around - who saw his client Sally Clark imprisoned for 2.5 years of a double murder of her children before she was acquitted. the first time he saw his client was when she appeared in the dock. see Sally Clark Part 1 2/17/2006

His appearances for the prosecution have been as outstanding - he will never be forgotten for the way he conducted the case for 93 days at a cost of £20Mn. against seven soldiers in the dock in connection with the death and the alleged assaults and ill-treatment received by Iraqi civilians held for a period of about 36 hours at a temporary detention facility in Basra on 14 and 15 September 2003. see - Wednesday, March 14, 2007 Julian Bevan ..The Star at the Bar

Only one was found guilty and that was an honest man, Cpl Donald Payne , 35, formerly of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, now of the renamed Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, who admitted inhumanely treating civilians in Basra four months after the official end of the war but not guilty to manslaughter and perverting the course of justice at the start of the first court martial of British troops accused of war crimes under the International Criminal Court Act (ICCA) 2001.

The Iraqis had been moved to a detention facility where they were repeatedly beaten, kicked and punched while handcuffed and hooded with sacks, made to maintain a stress position for prolonged periods and deprived of sleep. They were kept hooded with hessian sacks while the temperature rose to 60C. Some who pleaded thirst had water poured on their heads instead of being given drinks. "One civilian, Baha Mousa, died as a result, in part, from the multiple injuries he had received there being no less than 93 injuries on his body at the post-mortem stage, including fractured ribs and a broken nose."

However one might feel sorry for Julian Bevan, the gilded ornament of the bar, Brown has done a runner , so probably Bevan will end up without payment of his no doubt modest fees for representing this very effective Scottish con-man.