Brian Deer: the Westway scandal

This 2001 Sunday Times investigation by Brian Deer into the Westway
Development Trust - an obscure London property developer - showed
what you can get away with in the UK, given the benefits of charity status

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The meaning of "charity" betrayed

Notting Hell: Although backed by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, headed by an Old Bailey judge and feted by voluntary organisations, in the poor west London community around Ladbroke Grove, where it had acquired 23 acres of free land, the Westway Development Trust (formerly the North Kensington Amenity Trust) was notorious. Assigned to investigate for The Sunday Times of London, Brian Deer exposed how for years the trust had distorted the meaning of charity to harass and combat local people who had looked to it for help. The Sunday Times Magazine, June 17 2001

"Yes - local charities": Despite helping to establish a national development trusts association, claiming economic regeneration as its charitable purpose, the Westway Development Trust went to unusual lengths to prevent the local authority from collecting taxes for services to a wholly-for-profit local nightclub for which it was the landlord. The document at this link was written by Brian Deer to guide newspaper lawyers through this mysterious scam on the community [1][2][3][4][5][6]

Charity and Westway market in strange deals

The names change: But do the games stay the same? Although headed for nearly nine years by Old Bailey judge Gerald Gordon (pictured below), under the directorship of Roger Matland the Westway Development Trust had established a number of surprising commercial arrangements, discovered during Deer's investigation. The document at this link concerns the colourful business partner with whom the trust had for more than 20 years operated a street market, adjacent to the world-famous Portobello Road - collecting huge sums of money from stallholders in poorly-accounted cash. After Deer's intervention, some were put out to competitive tender for the first time. [1][2][3][4][5]

The iron fist of benevolence: Critics of the Westway Development Trust were sometimes subjected to barrages of complaints, threats and even lawsuits. The document at this link summarises the trust's perverse libel pursuit of a local bicycle repair man, damaging his health, squandering an estimated £100,000 and terrorising others who might think of complaining

Old Bailey's Gerald Gordon bullied decorator

From Notting Hell: "After a painter who decorated the charity's offices in 1999 complained to Gordon (left) that it appeared to be attempting to avoid proper payment for the work that it had ordered from him, the judge responded: 'Allegations of dishonesty if untrue are libellous and if made in relation to a person's employment are actionable without proof of damage.' The painter caved in to a 'consent order', abandoning his claim for £1,000 at Lambeth County Court, with an unusual clause demanded by the trust: 'That neither party shall discuss the matter with third parties.'"

From Judge Gerald Gordon: "I have now had an opportunity (conspicuously absent before and during your interrogation) to consider your allegations that the Trust made unjust and dishonest claims for rate and Music and Dancing License rebates and that I, as Chair, should have stopped it. I now have the following observations..."

Taken at face value: Following Deer's story, an emergency meeting of the Kensington & Chelsea council was called, at which Conservatives blocked demands to refer the Westway Development Trust to the Charity Commission. The district auditor, however, was instructed to report on the council's dealings with the trust, yielding a damning picture [1][2][3]

On your honour: As the founding aims were junked for upscale leisure - including a nightclub, fitness club and cocktail bar (built with public money earmarked for a job centre) - a raft of contracts was negotiated by an inner circle at the trust, including Gerald Gordon. But why was a judge involved in such matters? Here is the judges' code of conduct

Historic battles behind hopes for community

The land grab: In the early 1970s, the Westway Development Trust sprang from protests against a disruptive motorway construction (right) and calls to help the socially-deprived community. But the trust's board was packed with Chelsea Conservatives, and it changed course to found a leisure empire. This memo [1][2] shows how the land was secured - with help from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales

Image problem: Photographs of Westway land - some of which had gone undeveloped for 30 years - tell a tale of waste that has left many asking why it wasn't just sold to the highest bidder

Community leader dies as inquiries advance

Gone but not defeated: Living on a council estate beside the Westway flyover, tenants' leader Kathleen Kelly was among the most active opponents of the trust's antics, spearheading countless actions to defend the community. Sadly, she died before Deer's story was published in June 2001, but battled on as if posthumously in the Kensington & Chelsea News

Called to account: Year-on-year figures for losses on the Westway Development Trust's Portobello Green Fitness Club suggest amazing increases in efficiency after this investigation

No story here: As the investigation went ahead, dozens of letters of complaint about Brian Deer were received by The Sunday Times from the trust or its lawyers, including the three examples filed at this link, from Roger Matland, Gerald Gordon and Martin Owen. They denied any misconduct at the trust, and argued that actions were in the charity's best interests