Ex-Gloucestershire fire chief accused of fraudulently buying service vehicle

Stewart Edgar was chief fire officer for Gloucestershire between 2014 and 2018, when he resigned

A chief fire officer on trial for fraud said it would be "cleaner" to buy one of his brigade's vehicles through a third party, a court has been told.

Stewart Edgar, 53, wrote in a text that doing so would stop any "silly FOI stuff", Birmingham Crown Court heard.

The former head of Gloucestershire's fire service is accused of fraudulently buying a Land Rover for £500.

Mr Edgar, of Braehead Drive, Carnoustie, Angus, denies a single count of fraud by abuse of position.

The court heard an allegation that Mr Edgar dishonestly turned down a rival £8,250 bid for the 17-year-old Defender, after telling a colleague he had always wanted a red Land Rover for his daughter's wedding.

'Throwaway statement'

Mr Edgar was asked about a text he sent on 2 April 2018 to a contact at a firm that later placed the winning bid on his behalf, in which he wrote "it would be cleaner if one of our companies that usually buys our end-of-the-road fleet buys it".

Asked by his barrister Alistair Webster QC what he meant by "silly FOI stuff", he replied: "I'm not proud of this, it's just a throwaway statement… and sincerely apologise for using that terminology in the text."

The former fire chief said of his decision to buy the Land Rover, that if he had been in "the right frame of mind" at the time, he "wouldn't touch it with a barge pole".

Mental health issues

Mr Edgar told jurors he was currently on "a lot of medication" for mental health issues connected to his long service as a firefighter, adding he had seen "hundreds of dead bodies".

Asked by his barrister if his state of mind meant "there were any judgments you were getting wrong", Mr Edgar replied "yes".

The trial continues.