EXCLUSIVE: Clyde shipyard legend and daughter demand inquiry into dropped fraud accusations which ruined her life

A Maryhill woman, whose life was ruined when she was wrongly accused of stealing thousands of pounds from a foodbank she set up, is calling for an independent inquiry into why she was ever charged in the first place.

45 year-old Julie Webster had evidence of her innocence in the form of bank statements and offered them to Police when she was first questioned in 2016. Those bank statements eventually led to the case being dropped two and a half years later, after they were finally looked at by someone from the Crown Office. However, Julie says by that point her life was already ruined.

Forced to move home

In the two and a half years it took for the case against her to collapse, Julie was driven out of her home in Summerston and was forced to move to the other side of Glasgow after being spat at in the street and having her home targeted by vandals. She was pregnant at the time.

Her father, Clyde shipyard union legend Jamie Webster MBE, believes Police Scotland failed to follow due process and that they have been misled by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service over when they first knew about the existence of the evidence that proved Julie’s innocence. She let the police know about that evidence during her police interview.

"There is wrongdoing here."

He has carried out his own investigation over the last six years, through Freedom of Information and Subject Access Requests. He’s also enlisted the help of Bob Doris MSP, who has been liaising with the Lord Advocate on behalf of the family.

Clyde News has seen a letter from the Crown to Bob Doris MSP, which states: “Neither COPFS nor Police Scotland had sight or knowledge of the documentation ultimately provided by Ms Webster’s agents, until it was provided by her solicitor in February 2019.”

However, Clyde News has also seen the transcript of the police interview in 2016 where Julie let the investigating officers know about the evidence that eventually cleared her name.

Julie said: “There is wrongdoing here. And when I got over the initial shock of the case being dropped – because I’d built myself up to go to trial – that’s when I started to realise that the evidence that I’d offered them during my initial police interview two and a half years ago, was the same evidence they’d just looked at and decided to drop the charges… that’s when the anger and frustration kicked in for me.

“I think when you’ve been accused of something you’ve not done it’s very hard to take a step back and hear people saying really wrong things about you but I tried to deal with that with integrity and take a step back because I believed I would get my day in court and then people would have heard my side… but see to be honest with you now I would rather it would have gone to court and I would have been found not guilty than the case just being dropped three days before trial.

"I am innocent."

“Now people just assume I got off on a technicality, or because I knew someone, or I was lucky or some nonsense like that. I was ready to go to trial. I was disappointed. My name has never really been cleared. I feel I was cheated… especially after they took me two and a half years down the line.

“I am innocent and that’s why I am fighting this. I want someone to say sorry. I want someone to apologise for ruining my life with these false accusations.

“They need to take accountability. I teach my children about accountability and taking responsibility for their actions every day. I am teaching my kids what these people don’t feel they need to do because they’re in positions of authority.

"We shut the doors at the end of March 2016 and I remember during the investigation the officer saying 'I know you've never been in trouble before this must be a heart-breaking day for you'.

"I said 'I'm not heartbroken. I was heartbroken the last day that foodbank's doors shut because there's going to be people queueing for food tomorrow.

“I put the first tin of beans on the shelves and I took the last tin of beans off. I devoted three years of my life to that foodbank, and they were happy days. I made friends that I still see and I am not going to let anyone take those happy memories away from me. But my name needs to be cleared publicly. Someone needs to say sorry.”

"There was actually no embezzlement from anyone. "

Jamie said: “Actions speak louder than words and sitting through those various court hearings I saw the expressions of each and every one of those Procurator Fiscals that brought the case to court. I saw the expressions of people who didn’t want to be there. The expressions of ‘I’ve been left holding the baby here’… the ‘hot potato’.

“I don’t believe anyone wanted to be the person who dropped that case. It just kept getting passed on to someone else.

“There was no one person that could prove that Julie had stolen money. Not one shred of evidence. There was actually no embezzlement from anyone. They looked at evidence that suited them and not the full picture. They only pursued what they wanted.

“Their responsibility – both the Police and the Crown Office – is to ‘search and seek’ the truth on an impartial basis and no matter what. They did not do that. Julie had the evidence that cleared her name. It was offered to them. It was ignored for two and a half years.

“And this isn’t just about my family. It’s about everyone. This could happen to anyone. To be accused. To have your life ruined over something you categorically did not do. There needs to be an inquiry. We – and the public – needs to know why this was allowed to happen to us. To anyone.”

The Crown Office and Police Scotland Response

A spokesperson for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “COPFS has acted appropriately in these proceedings and has carefully considered and responded to matters raised on behalf of Ms Webster.

“Ms Webster had legal representation throughout the progress of her case and there is an extensive record of contact between them and COPFS.

“It was not until February 2019 that COPFS was presented with the documentation that was claimed to be exculpatory in 2016.

“At this time the case was reviewed by the prosecutor and a decision taken to discontinue proceedings. Should the evidential position change, the Crown reserve the right to raise proceedings.”

A police spokesperson said: “In 2019, Police Scotland received a complaint regarding the handling of an investigation from 2016. This complaint was fully investigated and was responded to.”

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