Titnore Developer Gets CBE!
ONE of the property developers behind the Titnore Lane scheme in Durrington is a convicted crook who has been jailed for his shady deals, we can reveal.
MULTIBILLIONAIRE Gerald Ronson CBE is head of the Heron Group, one of the three firms involved in the West Durrington Consortium - the others are Bryant Homes (part of Taylor Woodrow) and Persimmon Homes.
RONSON was found guilty of one charge of conspiracy, two of false accounting and one of theft in August 1990, as part of the notorious Guinness insider share dealing scandal. He was fined £5 million and sentenced to one year in prison, though he ended up serving only six months, being released in February 1991.
RONSON'S huge Heron empire is 75 per cent-owned by some of the world's most powerful tycoons including Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and the family trusts of junk bond dealer Michael Milken (The Observer, March 25, 2001).
For some reason his Heron International - legal owner of stacks of Heron subsidiaries - is based in the Dutch Antilles. We trust that a public-spirited and community-minded fellow like Mr. Ronson would not be involved in any attempt to avoid paying his share of taxes into the public purse......
RONSON celebrated his 63rd birthday on May 26, 2002 the very day that we held the protest against the proposed development of Titnore Woods! Of course as a friendly gesture we thought we would turn out just to wish Gerald many happy (financial) returns from the destruction of our countryside?
For reference members of the committees who awarded the CBE to Mr. Ronson can be found here: