Gloucestershire fire chief cleared of fraud over vehicle purchase

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

A county fire chief has been cleared of abusing his position to fraudulently purchase one of his own brigade's vehicles.

Stewart Edgar has been found not guilty following a week-long trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

The court heard the ex-Gloucestershire fire chief made a winning £500 bid for the vehicle in an auction he was running.

The jury accepted his defence that he had made "an honest mistake".

Mr Edgar, 53, of Braehead Drive, Carnoustie, Angus, won the Land Rover Defender after using a third-party company to place the bid on his behalf.

The court heard he wrote in a text that using the company would be "cleaner" and stop any "silly FOI stuff".

A jury unanimously found him not guilty after hearing how he secured the 2003-plate vehicle, telling a colleague he had always wanted a red Land Rover for his daughter's wedding.

Mr Edgar led Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service between 2014 and 2018.

He resigned in 2018 from his £120,000-a-year post after the sale came to light in an internal audit, triggering a council-led investigation.

Birmingham Crown Court earlier heard an allegation Mr Edgar had turned down a rival £8,250 bid for the 17-year-old vehicle.

Prosecutors had claimed the decorated fire chief, who was in line for an OBE prior to the investigation, had acted "dishonestly".

In evidence Mr Edgar said he was "not in the right frame of mind" at the time and suffering with his mental health, having later been diagnosed with depression.

Defence expert and consultant psychiatrist Dr Tom Clark, who assessed Mr Edgar in July 2021, said he ultimately diagnosed a depressive episode and believed the illness had started affecting him before the Land Rover sale.