AN £8,000 promise was made to a bankrupt West Somerset builder by one of the most senior officers of the district council in return for evidence against deputy chief executive Alan Beynon, it was alleged at an industrial tribunal last week.

The claim was part of a conspiracy theory which emerged as sacked housing grants officer Colin Morley alleged he was unfairly dismissed.

The tribunal in Exeter heard that allegations by Minehead builder Graham Thresher against Mr Morley were used as a means to force Mr Beynon out of office.

Mr Beynon was later suspended for seven months and then took early retirement.

His position as second-in-command of the council was later filled by Alistair Stewart, a friend of chief executive Colin Rockall.

Mr Stewart, who worked at the time for another council, helped to train two panels of councillors who first sacked Mr Morley and then rejected his appeal.

The tribunal was told former council property services manager Robert Erskine was behind the conspiracy.

Mr Erskine was at the time facing a criminal charge of theft from the authority and had also been suspended from work.

He worked then for Magna Housing Association, to which he transferred as property services manager when it bought West Somerset's 1,800 council homes for £25.7 million.

Senior council officers said to have helped in the conspiracy against Mr Beynon were identified in statements given to the tribunal but were not named publicly.

Mr Beynon, giving evidence to the tribunal, said he became aware through a councillor of how Mr Thresher had accused Mr Morley of withholding grants monies which contributed to his bankruptcy.

He knew the claim could not be true because he previously went through the files "intensively" with Mr Thresher and arrived at a figure of £3,431 plus a further £1,000 which was being withheld because some of his work had proven unsatisfactory.

Mr Beynon said his son Chris met Mr Thresher in the street one day and was told £8,000 in VAT had been wrongly withheld by the council and contributed to him going bust.

He was at a loss to understand the £8,000 claim as Mr Thresher carried out only a limited amount of work and could not have run up such a high VAT bill.

Mr Beynon said he later studied a council log book which recorded payments to builders.

The log book showed Mr Thresher was paid every penny owed to him, including the £1,000.

However, it was possible for somebody with access to the log book to mis-read the entries and wrongly deduce £8,000 was owed to Mr Thresher.

Mr Beynon said the mistake could occur because of a contract in Robert Street, Williton, on which Mr Thresher worked jointly with builder Eric Prole.

Payment for the work was made in two separate instalments, but if the later payment only was taken into account it could look as if about £8,000 was outstanding.

Mr Beynon said: "Mr Thresher could only have been told that information by somebody."

Responding to questions from Mr Morley's union representative John Marshall, Mr Beynon agreed there was a suggestion Mr Thresher's motive for making allegations was that he had been told he would receive the money if they were proven.

Mr Beynon said: "It would be a powerful motive to me, to receive £8,000, if I was bankrupt."

He also believed Mr Thresher was told by a third party to claim he was helped by Mr Morley to put in lower estimates than other builders in order to win grant-aided work from the council.

Mr Beynon said: "I can understand somebody saying 'here is a little story for you and if you run with it you might get your money back,' and the man was desperate.

"But at the end of the day there is a record on the file of what money was paid and what the money was paid for."

Mr Beynon said after his own suspension he was told the reaction of Mr Rockall's personal assistant to the news was one of "delight."

He said the personal assistant was Mr Erskine's wife Karen, whom he was told remarked that Mr Beynon would now know what it felt like.

Mr Beynon said the conspiracy theory emerged from his own investigation into why allegations without substance were being levelled at him.

He said: "I became aware of Mr Erskine's involvement, that he blamed me for his predicament, that he had become aware of an investigation in its early days into Mr Morley, had used that, and prejudiced Mr Morley's position in order to get at me.

"I have been told even more recently by a friend and colleague of Mr Erskine that the assumptions and conclusions I reached were basically true.

"Allegations made against Mr Morley in the first place - that he had withheld payments to Mr Thresher - have been taken by Robert Erskine and twisted perversely, with no regard as to how that affects Mr Morley, in order to achieve revenge against myself for the misconception he blamed me for the predicament he found himself in.

"I have no doubt in my mind at all that what I have heard referred to here as a theory and a hypothesis is fact.

"It is a very sad day for everybody concerned in it and I feel very sorry that Mr Morley has been used by Mr Erskine to get at me.

"People within the local authority are aware of that. People within the local authority have read about it and read my papers on it and it still has not been put to bed."

Mr Beynon said he spoke to Mr Rockall about Mr Erskine's wrongly-held belief and was told he would sort it out, "but I do not believe he ever did."

Mr Beynon said he learned Mr Erskine had been in Mr Thresher's house when the investigating officer, Chris Schofield, called to take a statement.

"Reasons for him being there are limited," he said.

Mr Schofield only confirmed the incident took place when he was pressed on the matter during Mr Morley's disciplinary hearing.

Mr Beynon said he also found it strange when he was told Mr Rockall misled Mr Morley's hearing by denying he had gone out for a meal with Mr and Mrs Erskine.

The meal in a Taunton restaurant was also attended by personnel officer Mandy Wishart and was connected with Mrs Erskine leaving her post as personal assistant to the chief executive.

Mr Beynon said it occurred while the investigation into himself and Mr Morley was at its height and while Mr Erskine was facing a trial on a charge of stealing from the authority.

The council's representative at the tribunal, Richard Payne, of the South West Provincial Employers organisation, said: "It is certainly not accepted that Mr Rockall lied."

Mr Payne said Mr Rockall's answer would have depended on the question he was asked.

Mr Marshall told tribunal chairman Anthony Puttick: "If Mr Rockall had admitted it, there would be nothing more to ask about it."

Former councillor Bryan Furney told how Mr Thresher's sister Janet Roberts twice "buttonholed" him within a fortnight and demanded he helped to get her brother the money he was owed.

Mr Furney said Mrs Roberts told him a "very, very senior officer" and a second officer both told Mr Thresher he would receive the money if allegations were proven.

He had no doubt in his own mind as to the identity of the two officers but Mrs Roberts would not confirm any names for him.

Mr Furney said he later learned from two sources that Mr Thresher wanted to change his statement given to Mr Schofield.

He told Mr Rockall and then-personnel sub-committee chairman Doug Ross he intended to meet Mr Thresher and ask if he wanted to change his statement.

However, the meeting did not take place because Mr Thresher would not see him.

Mr Furney said: "I understand he was visited by Mr Rockall on the day after I told Mr Rockall of his indication he might change his statement. In the event, he never did change his statement."

l Further reports from tribunal appear on Page 5