Scotland’s law chief is set to issue a public apology to former Rangers administrators wrongly dragged through the courts after the fraud case against the club collapsed.
David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, of Duff & Phelps, were subjected to criminal proceedings with others in the wake of Craig Whyte’s purchase of the club for £1 in 2011 and its subsequent sale.
However, a judge later dismissed the charges.
The pair are awaiting a multi-million pound out-of-court settlement against the Chief Constable of Police Scotland after it was admitted they had been subject to a “malicious prosecution”.
Whitehouse, of Cheshire, brought a damages claim against Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC and former chief constable Phil Gormley for £9million, while Clark, of Surrey, sued for £5million.
In August, the total claim was said to have gone up to £21million.
The Lord Advocate has previously admitted malicious prosecution and a breach of human rights in the investigation while the administrators sought to clear their names.
Gerry Moynihan QC, for the Lord Advocate, said: “The Lord Advocate has accepted that those two shouldn’t have been prosecuted.
"They’re entitled to be compensated.”
He said the Lord Advocate intends to apologise to them in public, adding: “It is now a matter of public record that there was no probable cause against these two individuals and they ought not to have been prosecuted.”
