William George Pottinger

William George Pottinger (c. 1906 - 15 January 1998)^[1] was a Scottish civil servant who was imprisoned for corruption in 1974 following a trial also involving John Poulson. As a result of his conviction, Pottinger's 1953 Coronation Honours award as Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) and his 1972 Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) was revoked in 1975.

During the late 1950s, Pottinger was working at the Scottish Office and was a put in charge of a £3m redevelopment of Aviemore as a winter sports complex. Poulson gave Pottinger gifts worth over £30,000 over six years, and was appointed by Pottinger as architect in charge of the Aviemore project.

Nicknamed 'Gorgeous George', Pottinger lived in a house, The Pelicans, overlooking Muirfield golf course in Gullane, and was at the golf club on 22 June 1973, when the Fraud Squad's Kenneth Everidge arrived at his home to arrest him.^[2] He had already been suspended from his Permanent Secretary post at the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in Scotland, following allegations raised at Poulson's earlier bankruptcy hearing.^[3] Pottinger returned home, and was arrested and charged with corruption in connection with the award of building contracts.

A 52-day trial at Leeds Crown Court followed, with Pottinger and T. Dan Smith as Poulson's co-accused. During the trial, the court heard how Poulson's meticulously recorded relationship with Pottinger saw the civil servant showered with 'gifts', including foreign holidays, Savile Row suits and a Rover car. Poulson also designed Pottinger's home for free and paid £20,000 towards the mortgage.^[3]

All three were found guilty on 11 February 1974 of fraud. On 15 March 1974, Poulson was gaoled for five years (later increased to seven); George Pottinger was gaoled for five years.^[4] Sentencing Pottinger to jail, Mr Justice Waller said: "You have let down the honourable service to which you belonged."^[1] Pottinger's sentence was later reduced to four years on appeal. He was also dismissed from the civil service, forfeiting a retirement lump sum, and had his pension cut in half. Following his release from prison, he moved to Cambridgeshire, where he wrote books, and died, aged 81, in 1998.^[3]

Pottinger's son Piers was head of the City public relations firm Lowe Bell Financial,^[5] today Bell Pottinger Private. His younger brother Don Pottinger was an artist and illustrator, and served as a Scottish Herald.

References